Celebrate Bow Tie Day Every August 28
Bow ties are cool! And even if you don’t normally wear one, you can be as cool as the 11th Doctor on August 28, Bow Tie Day.
That’s right: Bow Tie Day … The bow tie has it’s very own day!
How cool is that? (Hint: VERY!).
(Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a Fez Day … At least not that we could discover).
We don’t know who created Bow Tie Day or when. And despite all of our Dr. Who references, we doubt it has anything to do with the 11th Doctor. But does it really matter?
Bow ties are cool!
A Bit of Bow Tie History and Trivia
Bow ties (and neckties) were born in the 17 century, created by Croation mercenaries in the Prussian wars.
Well, technically they created the cravat. This is basically a scarf tied around the neck, often with its ends tucked into the shirt. It was supposed to keep the neck opening closed.
The cravat eventually spawned both the bow tie and the necktie. But the cravat still exists, too.
Croatia celebrates these neck ornaments on October 18, with Cravat Day.
Throughout history, lots of famous (and smart!) people have worn bow ties: Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, and Fred Astaire, along with Jon Hamm and Psy (Gangnam Style).
Today, of course, the bow tie isn’t really needed to keep a shirt’s neck closed—that’s what buttons are for. But it’s been popular as a fashion accessory on and off. And apparently it’s getting more popular again. Google searches for “bow tie” outnumber searches for “necktie.” In fact, the number of searches for “necktie” seem to be going down … at least as of 2015.
A bow tie contains only 37 inches of fabric, compared with 57 inches for the traditional tie.
There’s even a “fastest time to tie on a bow tie,” if you can believe that. Elliot G. holds that record for tying a bow tie in 8.66 seconds on October 20, 2015. He beat previous record-holder Dhani Jones’ time of 13.59 seconds, set on March 13, 2011.
Mr. Jones had started wearing bow ties when a friend who wore them was diagnosed with lymphoma. He even started an organization, BowTie Cause. It designs signature bow ties for other organizations to increase awareness of their causes.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficially cool holiday.
How to Celebrate Bow Tie Day
Wear bow ties, of course!
Don’t have a bow tie? Get one!
- Buy pre-tied bow ties if you don’t know how to tie one.
- Or get self-tie bow ties and then learn how to tie them. Bow Tie Aficionado has some bow tie tying tips here. There’s even a video with Bill Nye and Chris Hardwick showing you how it’s done.
- Please, no clip-ons!
Once you learn how to tie a bow tie, teach your friends how to do it. Then they can be cool too.
And maybe eat some bowtie pasta while wearing your bow tie?
Learn more about bow ties, like the various shapes they can be.
Buy a bow from BowTie Cause to support your favorite cause. Or support the BowTie Foundation, which supports underprivileged youth. (Please do your own research on the Cause and/or Foundation before donating or spending money with them. Only you can decide if their work is something you want to support).
Finally, watch some cool (and not so cool) bow tie wearing dudes:
The 11th Doctor (c’mon you had to know that one was coming!):
Orville Redenbacher and his gourmet popping corn:
Hercule Poirot (a blooper):
And finally, listen to the Huckleberry Hound theme song (sorry, no video, just a still pic of the cute bow-tie-wearing hound):
[…] bow ties are included in National Tie Month, they also have their very own day. Bow Tie Day happens every year on August […]