Saturday, May 10, 2008

Donald Duck, for one; and Winston Churchill

There's Dagwood Bumstead and Frank Sinatra.
Sammy Davis, Jr. and Albert Einstein.
Franklin Roosevelt and "Maberry's" Barney Fife.
Pee Wee Herman and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Abraham Lincoln and Playboy Bunnies.
And four-legged participants in dog shows.

Quite a collection of people who prefer (or preferred) bow ties. At least during part of their lives and/or careers.

According to those who make, market or sell them, they are as simple to use as falling off a tie rack. But when you listen to people who actually have to wrap the infernal length of cloth around their necks, it can be an exercise in dogged refusal to reach for the scissors and create a pile of scraps for recycling in the wastebasket or lower depths of Hell, whichever is more convenient.

I used to wear a bow tie, so it can’t be that hard to, uh, clip on. Ok, so I cheated. I wasn’t exactly working at the Ritz-Carlton or something like that. Nor did anyone expect that it would be a really-tied bow. But it covered the top button on my shirt, which is (I suppose) what ties are really supposed to do. Whether a four-in-hand, the regular knot for a long tie, or a bow, guys just don’t look right with that top button showing. So the bow tie covers it up, gives a little decoration around the neck. It works.

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