Why Did Men Stop Wearing Bow Ties?

In the first half of the 20th century, bow ties were just as common as long neckties as a classic style neckwear option. So, why did they fall out of favor? Well, let’s put a bow on things and find out.

If you’re interested in why men started wearing bow ties in the first place, we cover that history in our separate guide to bow ties.

1. Bow Ties Emphasize Horizontal Lines

Believe it or not, the way that the bow tie draws the eye may have contributed to its downfall. The silhouette and lines of your clothing and accessories massively impact how your entire frame is perceived. For most of the Golden Age of Menswear, the inverted-V silhouette was favored, emphasizing broad shoulders and a slim waist. This silhouette was created by the interplay between vertical or largely vertical lines like diagonally descending lapels and horizontal lines like those of a bow tie.

Starting in the 1960s, a new focus was placed on overall slimness, and to aid in this slimness, vertical lines were more exclusively favored. This can be seen in things like suits cut closer to the body, narrower jacket lapels, and an increasing reliance on the conventional long necktie.

So, it may be that bow ties fell out of favor because they create a horizontal line and emphasized width at a time when height and length alone were favored. And while menswear has gone through several more phases where slimness has been in or out of style, even since the 1960s, this overall preference for vertical lines has still remained.

2. Bow Ties Can Look Odd Against Expansive Shirt Fronts

The second reason why men stopped wearing bow ties is because they can look odd against an expansive shirt front. As the modern suit has evolved, the amount of shirtfront on display under the jacket has increased considerably.

This is due to the decreasing popularity of jackets that show less of the shirt front, like double-breasted or three-button styles, fewer men wearing waistcoats, and changing button stances of two- or one-button jackets. Men these days are also more often wearing their jackets unbuttoned and wearing them with lower-rise trousers. All of this, then, is going to show off more of the shirt front.

So, this broad expanse of a shirt front, especially when it’s solid in color and free of pattern, can look a little empty, vacant, and boring when paired with a bow tie. Meanwhile, the length of a necktie is more likely to fill this visual space in these circumstances.

As men are wearing fewer garments that cut down on the negative space of shirt fronts like double-breasted jackets or waistcoats, it aided in the perception that bow ties can be dull and boring. The reality is, though, that ensembles featuring bow ties are only going to appear boring under certain circumstances, and it is very easy to dress in such a way as to integrate a bowtie successfully into your look.

3. Bow Ties Are Commonly Associated with Formality

The third reason why men stopped wearing bow ties is that they’re commonly associated with formality.

When most men think of bow ties, they quickly think of formal wear. After all, the names of the two most formal dress codes for men are White Tie and Black Tie, and as we often try to emphasize, this does mean bow ties and not long neckties.

As central components of formal evening attire, it does make some sense that bow ties would be considered more formal than long neckties; and even if menswear enthusiasts understand that there is a difference between a formal black or white bow tie for evening wear and a daywear bow tie, this distinction could be lost on the layman.

Aside from dress codes, though, there are also innate aspects of the bow tie that can make it inherently more formal. A long necktie can be styled in a casual way fairly easily by doing things like loosening the knot or wearing the narrow blade longer than the wide blade. But, a bow tie doesn’t really have equivalents to this, and we wouldn’t really recommend trying to start the trend of a loosely knotted bow tie. And while Daniel Craig’s James Bond could get away with loosely dangling bow tie ends as part of his tuxedo, this is a look that appears affected or disheveled on most men.

Basically, unlike a necktie, which can be styled in accordance with how loosely it’s tied, a bow tie is either tied or not tied and, therefore, somewhat formal or extremely casual. Of course, some bow ties are less form than others, and a more casual appearance can be created by using things like the fabric, color, pattern, or texture of the bow tie. But, in general, bow ties are going to be considered a bit more formal than long neckties and, therefore, less versatile; and frankly, in today’s increasingly casual world, the perceived formality of bow ties can then be a nonstarter in and of itself.

4. Bow Ties Require One More Knot to Learn

Next on our list is number four: bow ties require one more knot to learn. For the vast majority of men, the necktie is the gold standard for neckwear, so when it came time to learn how to wear neckwear, they simply had to learn one necktie knot (most likely the Four in Hand) and perhaps one or two more knots if they were feeling adventurous.

Of course, menswear enthusiasts know that there are as many as 85 different ways to knot a conventional necktie, but that’s in our ties playlist. And in a time when men are increasingly abandoning neckwear altogether, as we already covered in a previous installment of this series, it can seem silly to learn one more knot in learning how to tie a bow tie.

In other words, if you already know how to tie a necktie, isn’t learning how to tie a bow tie just one more knot to learn?

It could also seem like a waste of time to learn how to tie a bow tie, given that most men only wear bow ties on very formal occasions these days anyway. This then has contributed directly to the increasing popularity of the pre-tied bow tie, and with how convenient pre-tied bow ties appear to the layman, they have also likely contributed to the declining popularity of bow ties as well. However, to the discerning eye, a pre-tied bow tie is just going to look off. It will look stiff, rigid, and too perfect with its entirely symmetrical construction and a knot that looks fake because it usually is. So, while we said earlier that a bow tie shouldn’t be loosely tied, it should still be genuinely tied to provide some personality to the knot.

Phrased another way, pre-tied bow ties are representative of many of the same issues that we find with rental tuxedos. These are both things that should ideally be unique and fitted to you but, instead, are now mass-produced and artificial. And if you’re wearing something that wasn’t made for you or at least something that doesn’t harmonize with your own personal style, it can look off as though you’re wearing a costume.

So, it may be that the boring, stiff, and unnatural appearance of pre-tied bow ties has also created some guilt by association with self-tied bow ties. In reality though, a self-tied bow tie should appear organic and beautiful, and as we illustrate in our other guide, it really isn’t all that hard to learn how to tie one once you get some practice in.

5. Butterfly Bow Ties Are Believed To Be The Only Type Of Bow Tie

The fifth reason why men have stopped wearing bow ties is because the butterfly style is believed by many men to be the only type of bow tie.

During the Golden Age of Menswear, when bow ties were in their heyday, there were almost as many types of bow ties as there were types of gentlemen. Bow ties came in various sizes, lengths, and styles like single-ended, diamond-ended, or batwing bows, but with the countercultural revolution of the 1960s, and especially into the 1970s, the butterfly bow tie, which had once been just one option among many, became ubiquitous.

This was likely due to the fact that this shape could be further exaggerated to better fit in with the “bigger is better” mentality of the time period. The result was a fad for butterfly bow ties with gigantic drooping ends, and while they appeared modish when they first came on the scene, they quickly became caricatures and outdated.

While the 1980s saw a backlash against many of the fashion trends of the 1970s and certain garments like striped shirts or double-breasted jackets were revived in the 80s, the bow tie wasn’t so lucky, and the perception that the only style of bow tie that existed was the massive butterfly stuck around.

As a result, too many men, even today, assume that the butterfly bow tie is their only option, and because the butterfly doesn’t suit every face shape, many men erroneously believe that bow ties as a whole aren’t for them. In reality, though, there’s a bow tie style out there to highlight and complement every face shape.

6. Bow Ties are Believed to be a Statement Piece

The penultimate item on our list today is number six, which is that bow ties are believed to be a statement piece.

As bow ties became increasingly rare in menswear, a perception developed that the long necktie was the standard neckwear choice and bow ties were somehow special by comparison. This perception certainly wasn’t widespread in the 1930s or 40s, but it was developing by the 70s and 80s and is certainly dominant today. So, some men avoid wearing a bow tie because they think it is innately a statement piece.

This perception probably wasn’t helped by the fashion-forward detailing of bow ties seen in the hipster craze of the 2010s. You can think of bow ties made from unusual materials like wood or feathers to fall into this category.

As an aside here, we are not saying that bow tie styles like these are somehow bad, just that they’re not strictly classic. If you’d like to wear them, go for it, but know that they don’t fall into that strictly classic menswear aesthetic.

On the other hand, many men who have chosen to wear a bow tie have made them a personal statement piece and a distinct part of their aesthetic. These men swing the pendulum completely in the other direction, eschewing long neckties entirely and collecting a massive stockpile of bow ties, which they wear exclusively.

This fervent dedication to the bow tie then leads other men to assume that if they start wearing bow ties, they might find themselves down the path to becoming a “bow tie guy.” In reality, though, bow ties can, of course, be worn as just one option in a rotation of all different kinds of neckwear. And the fact that some men embrace them so fully should only be proof of just how stylish a bow tie can be.

7. Bow Ties Have Some Negative Cultural Associations

The final reason on our list today of why men stopped wearing bow ties is that they have developed some negative cultural associations.

As bow ties fell out of general favor, they became increasingly associated with certain specific groups, leading the general public to believe that if they wore a bow tie, they themselves would be associated with these groups.

Many adults these days do enjoy cartoons or comic books, but it shouldn’t be controversial to say that, fundamentally, comics were created to appeal to children. So, given that many adults prefer not to be associated with things they see as juvenile, it stands to reason that men who did not want to project a juvenile appearance might avoid bow ties.

Somewhat ironically, because bow ties were more popular in the past, they are also seen today as being old-fashioned or even historical. Many modern men are only going to see bow ties when they watch period television shows or movies or worn by older men who are still dressing in accordance with the conventions of their younger years, and when fashion is youth-oriented and obsessed with the new, you can see why men might avoid bow ties if they don’t want to look outdated. Perhaps precisely because they are often considered old-fashioned or associated with more historical viewpoints, bow ties are often adopted by academics or pundits with conservative beliefs.

This, in turn, has fed into a belief that there must be something inherently conservative or even reactionary about the bow tie itself; and, politics aside, bow ties are also associated with academics more broadly, especially scientists and mathematicians.

Many theories abound as to why bow ties have become associated with the scientific community. It could be that, unlike long neckties, bow ties are less likely to droop down into a petri dish or vat of chemicals or get caught in a spinning centrifuge, and it could also be that bow ties appear more put together under a high-buttoning lab coat. It’s also telling that many of society’s most famous scientists grew up or were active during the early to mid-20th century, a time when bow ties were still generally more common.

Whatever the reason may be, then, the connection established between bow ties and scientists led, in turn, to another connection between bow ties and nerds or other individuals considered uncool.

Conclusion

So, while bow ties may have fallen out of favor for the general public, there’s no reason that it has to stay that way. We already have several guides on how to integrate a bow tie into your personal classic style look, and we’d suggest you start with the essential bow ties we think every gentleman needs.

Do you wear bow ties? If so, how do you style them, or is there something preventing you from wearing them? Let us know in the comments below, and if there are any other reasons that men stopped wearing bow ties that you think we missed today, let us know about those as well, and we can tie up those loose ends.

Outfit Rundown

Today, I am, of course, wearing an outfit that features a bow tie. This one is a vintage silk model from the brand Robert Talbott, featuring a Macclesfield Neats geometric pattern in colors of orange, blue, green, and light yellow or buff.

To harmonize with this color palette then, I’m wearing a French-cuffed shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt, featuring a Prince-of-Wales check pattern in yellow and blue on a white ground. I have vintage gold cufflinks inserted into those French cuffs that also feature a pattern vaguely reminiscent of a bow.

My navy blazer, also featuring gold buttons, is double-breasted and, therefore, shows off less of my shirt front to harmonize better with the bow tie. My trousers are in a light khaki or stone color that also harmonizes with the yellow tones in my outfit, and my shoes are medium brown, cap-toed Oxfords from Allen Edmonds.

The fragrance I’m wearing today is Old English Classic Cologne from the brand D. R. Harris. Its citrus-forward scent has me thinking ahead to spring, which isn’t far away at the time we’re producing this post, and the green label also happened to harmonize with elements in my outfit. 

Speaking of which, my pocket square is a prototype design for Fort Belvedere in a mint or light lime green color and featuring a blue X-stitch. We don’t currently offer this exact color in our shop, but other colors in our handcrafted linen range include yellow and blue among others.

My remaining accessories are also from Fort Belvedere. They include my Edelweiss boutonniere and two-toned, shadow-striped socks in navy blue and yellow, which harmonize with other elements of my outfit.

So, for the socks and boutonniere I’m wearing, as well as a wide array of other classic men’s accessories, including bow ties, corduroy trousers, and fragrances from the Roberto Ugolini collection, you can take a look at the Fort Belvedere shop.