Tie boys, specially the bowed ones

Sometimes when I take a smoke break, I go with couple of my colleagues to the back alley of the office building. One day two men were walking through the alley wearing expensive suites. One of the colleagues said it would be funny if we all dress up one day and come to work with suites and ties. I said sure, I'll wear a suit with a bow tie tomorrow. I always wanted to experiment it one day. Next day I did it and when I walked into the office with a black suite and a silk red bow tie everyone was surprised. It seems it's a big deal for most men seeing a bow tie wrapped around another man's neck, never mind about wearing it. A couple of weekends later Ian Brown wrote an article about bow ties in The globe and mail and a couple of days after that I saw him on a TV show wearing an elegant bow tie, talking about books. I've seen different reactions to bow ties. Like when Jon Stewart was on Cross Fire he made fun of Tucker Carlson for wearing bow tie at his mid 30s. Or last night on Who wants to be a millionaire one of the contestants was a doctor wearing a bow tie. Meredith Vieira, the host of the show asked him about the bow tie and then she said it suites you doctor. The doctor said ok -- in a situation like that it think "Ok" is the best answer, it means neither I am taking it as a compliment, nor as an insult. --

Ian Brown writes: More dangerously, a bow tie tells you where to look -- at his face. Rather than emasculate a man, a bow tie desexualizes and sometimes re-sexualizes him by diverting our attention upward to his head, from his groin to his gourd. What's above my neck, the bow tie wearer says, is even more interesting than what's below it.

But why did I want to try it at least once? I am not sure. Ian articulated it very well: For me, it's still an experiment, a test of my own fortitude. I wear a bow tie to see if I can stand the heat.

I was able to take the heat in a small environment like my office full of young and single men in their late 20s who don't take anything seriously.