PlanetGordon.com

An Educated Consumer

Four years ago, in anticipation of what would likely be a number of weddings I would have to attend as I grew older, I purchased a tux. Out of town weddings often make renting less sensible than simply owning formal wear and over the years I've gotten a lot of use out of my Syms shawl-collar tux. My monkey suit is starting to show its age and since I wore it to the biggest day of other people's lives, doesn't it stand to reason that I should get a new tuxedo for the biggest day of mine?

While I haven't made up my mind on what kind of tux to buy, I have been interested in getting a real bow tie for some upcoming weddings. No clip-on business for me, although I hear tying the real thing is as hard for some men as programming a VCR is for my parents.

Amazingly, it's not that easy to find real bow ties anymore, even in shops that specialize in menswear. The Syms in downtown Manhattan was in such disarray that it was hard enough to find the ceiling, much less a tiny bowtie. A trip to Brooks Brothers was fruitless due to some shabby customer service. Despite walking into an empty store recently, it was next to impossible to get anyone to help me. Perhaps the way I was dressed - jeans and a fleece jacket - didn't suggest I was in the market for a bespoke suit, but then again who wears a suit in order to go shopping for one? Even during my recent trip to London, a stroll through Harrod's only yielded combination auto-adjust/tie-it-youself ties. Where can one go to find a real classic?

As is usually the case, my quest for an answer took me to the Internet. Bowties.com is a good place to start, but only to find stores near you that carry the real deal. That seems good enough for now, as I still have some time to figure out exactly what it is I - and my groomsmen - will be wearing.

My surfing took me to a number of sites offering step-by-step guidance on how to tie a bow tie. Perhaps the most clever was Heart & Sew the online presence of a Kennebunk, Maine seamstress. Her directions are posted with the type backwards so that when you print them out you can fold the paper over your shirt pocket and read them in the mirror as you go. There are still some kinks to this - formalwear shirts typically do not have pockets - but is the Nobel committee aware of her method? Brilliant.

Posted by The Groom at April 30, 2004 02:54 PM