How come no one wears bow ties anymore?
Andy asks:
I’m in a black-tie wedding in November. I have a pleated/wingtip collar shirt that I like, but the groomsmen are wearing long ties, not bow ties, which I think would make the wingtip, and possibly the pleats, look silly (I could be wrong on that).
However, if I get a a non-wingtip, non-pleated shirt, then there wouldn’t seem to be any difference between a “tuxedo shirt” and a “white shirt” (since the studs would be covered by the aforementioned long tie). Thoughts on this one?
The short answer - you’re right, and you’re mostly right.
Yes, wearing a pleated, wingtip collar tuxedo shirt with a long tie would look silly, so I agree you should keep them far apart from each other.
Now, as someone who loves to go all out for formal events (and by that, I mean, “a girl), I do suggest a man keep a proper tuxedo hanging in his closet, along with a true tuxedo shirt. You’ll always feel like a million bucks, instead of shelling out a couple hundred to wear something that barely fits a couple times a year. Since we’re on the same wavelength in this issue, and since you wear yours with a bow tie, I don’t see any big issue in slipping by on this occasion with a dress shirt with a simple turndown collar and French cuffs.
A well-trained eye will know you’re cutting corners, but thankfully (?) we live in a sloppy, perpetual Casual Friday society, so most people will be too dazzled by your shiny patent leather dress shoes and grosgrain jacket lapel to notice the simple dress shirt underneath.
If you decide in the future that you want to wear your tuxedo with a long tie more often, it could be worth it to invest in a turndown collar tuxedo shirt. In the meantime, dress things up with an extra-special cufflink and you should be good to go.
(image via)
