September BTB News Round Up

September ushers in the beginning of autumn. School starts up again and trees begin to shed their leaves,. There wasn't very much bow tie news around, since there are fewer weddings and virtually no garden parties or formal awards ceremonies. So, rather than disappoint you, we thought we would focus on an area of bow tie fashion we have neglected somewhat up until now... But first,

September 1st saw the last of the Bow Tie FAN-tastic movie instalments.

Yes, Aphids Kaboodle  has brought the curtain down after scene 18. We hope you enjoyed the ride and maybe even contributed to the storyline!

Love and Robots has taken 3D printed bow tie retail to a whole

new level. As one of several  core products, customers use an interface through the webpage to customise a basic template with a pre-set or custom design and available background textures like wood or silk. The aesthetic changes are then printed and shipped on demand! Their motto is, "Designed with love, made by robots." 

In our quest to bring you bow ties made from all materials from this good earth....

Andrew Logan glass mosaic in resin bow ties

We discovered glass mosaic bow ties set in resin designed by eccentric, flamboyant sculptural artist Andrew Logan. He originally designed a plain white in 1997 specifically for Dior's friend, fashion publicist Percy Savage, followed by a more ornate black in 2002. He was again inspired to produce more modern 11.5 x 4 cm pieces in 2013 - green, , red, turquoise, blue and white - available on the AndrewLogan.com website

 

Then, we loved that the 67th Emmy Awards did not fail to demonstrate the innovative. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) nominee Tituss Burgess donned a pinot noir bow tie whilst attending a pre-Emmys nominee celebration. Presented to him by a fan, Burgess's bow tie was made form cork, labels, and shards of glass...

Later that night Brackish bow ties, which we have featured before, were firmly front and centre. Host Andy Samberg (L) wore the Green Pond with a David Hart powder blue tuxedo, whilst Lead Actor nominee Don Cheadle (R) wore Guinea with an Isaia navy tux.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nathan M Wright @nwchoreographer name-checked bespoke accessories retailer Apple Tree Hill, thanking owner/designers Becky and Annalene for his gorgeous Rocky Horror-themed bow tie for his attendance at Rocky Horror Live.

Courtesy of David M Benett Getty Images

Then, we  fell in love with this giant balloon bow tie from Great Knots.com, as worn by John Pertzborn @PERTZFOX for the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, St. Louis (September 18-20).

Esquire disappointed us slightly with Tucker Westbrook's 13 Style Lessons I Learned From JFK, as they commented on the statement watch, when and how to wear a sweater, mismatched suit, Oxford shirt, sneakers, sport coat, glasses/sunglasses, length of overcoat, t-shirt and skinny tie. With only the line, "Because every gentleman knows that black tie means black bow tie," inexplicably at the end of the No.7 Lesson (sport coat), there was nothing more for us! Nada! This seemed improbable, since, he was married to one of the foremost female fashion icons of the age... So, we went on the hunt and came across Renee Jacques' 2014 13 Timeless Style Lessons From John F Kennedy, and there it was...

Lesson 12. "Better for your bow tie to be slightly askew than pre-tied. Not everything has to be perfectly straight and sound. A little messiness can show you're rough around the edges." Interestingly, this was echoed in September by @bowtieaficio, who confirmed that their 2014 article BowTies Should Be A Little Crooked had been endorsed by fashion authorities like GQ Magazine. Ouch! Well, if it's good enough for JFK...

So, with not much BT news, we took inspiration from London Fashion Week and Britain's Next Top Model's newest judge Abbey Clancy, as reported by the Daily Mail. She attended Giles Deacon's S/S16 showcase in one of his A/W15 looks - a slinky black and white, graphic, tree-printed, scallop-hemmed skirt and peplum top, with a beautifully dramatic pink silk double bow tie!

We also found out that Hermes Is Selling Fancy Bow Ties For Women -

Collections Imperiales, by Catherine Baschet, inspired by the cloisonné enamel designs from the Ming and Qing dynasties; Flots, Fleurs et Frontaux, by Virginie Jamin, mixes flowers with equestrian influences ; Paddock, by Jean-Louis Clerc, references jockeys and racing; Fleurs et Papillons de Tissus by Christine Henry references the Coptic Christian tapestries, Byzantine fabrics and more found at Musée des Tissus in Lyon. These lovelies retail at $155 each. And if you don't have a perfect button-down shirt to wear them with, you can always wear them as a necklace... 

Courtesy of Cynthia Donovan on pinterest

So, we decided that, despite featuring two women in our BowTieEye segment, we had not paid much attention to how women celebrate the bow tie. Note, that we said bow tie and not bow. We will admit that some featured below are borderline, but fun, nevertheless. So, we decided that in honour of LFW, we would do just that...

We came across some truly original incorporations, as well as some stunning shots of some of the world's Beauties. Valentino clearly has an uniquely exquisite touch in this respect. Many are courtesy of The World's Best Photos of Actresses in Bow Ties,



Joan Collins & Friend, Vogue 1954



Valentino









Courtesy of Pics Ant

Christopher Kane 2013





Sarah Paulson (L), Amanda Peet (R) 2015



Kirsten Dunst, Cannes 2011



Emily Blunt (L), Cate Blanchett (C), Zhou Xun (R) 2015

Beyoncé 2001



Valentino

Courtesy of Catwalk Yourself 4

Courtesy of Catwalk Yourself 3

Giambattista Valli Haute Couture AW12-13

Nicole Sherzinger

 

Lucy Liu

Janelle Monae 2013

Jennifer Lopez in Valentino 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We think you'll agree that, on a woman, a bow tie, takes on a whole new meaning.

 

BTB Favourite Howard C McEwen @howardmcewen amused us, yet again, with It's A Bow Tie... Not A Bow Untied in which he decries the trend for certain  'gentlemen' to deliberately wear their bows untied. He heatedly declares that, "Part of looking cool is never letting them see you sweat…letting your bow tie loose shows you’re not cool."

He made some valid points, which, by straw poll, most male BT aficionados probably agree with. Women who love men in BTs maybe wouldn't.. and we're pretty sure he forgot to consider when women wear bows untied, such as these that we came across.



Famke Janssen

We think the men in their company might find it hard to keep cool, tied or untied...

So, finally, @MicaBurton deserves our envy, as she tweeted an 11th Doctor bowtie signed by Matt Smith!! Short of featuring on Bow Tie Eye, we can't think of a better symbol of true devotion to the bow tie!

 See you next month!



August BTB News Round Up

So, after all the summer weddings, regattas and garden parties, those right-on BowTieBanditz in America have very sensibly designated the end of August National Bow Tie Day. So, really, the whole month is just 27 days of build up...

Mrs BowTie proudly tweeted their most prestigious RT  to date - their great bow tie give away by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge:

Still, we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't update you on the latest happenings in the cute and slightly weird Bow Tie FAN-tastic Movie by Aphids Kaboodle. August began with Scene 14

 

Follow the links for Scene 15, Scene 16 and scene 17.

We had to admire Big Cat @BarStoolBigCat's unapologetic public admission of his ineptness at Bow Tying, posting this wonderfully pathetic picture of his first attempt.

 

Just 19 minutes later, he posted an admission that he, "Just called the front desk and said, "hi can you send someone up to tie my bow tie", not even close to ashamed."

!

Last month, we warned you that teen bow tie retail mogul Mo Bridges was about to launch a How To Video. It launched on August 4th, and we have to say... it's FUN!

Meanwhile, People Magazine carried the story of 79 year old Trygve Bernhardsen who eschewed a Rolls or Classic Sport Car as his wedding transport for something a little more people-powered and original. The day he married Ellen Hertzberg, he swam a 2,600 foot (867m), 53◦F fjord in trunks and a bow tie to get to the bride who had already waited 15 years. She didn't find this last potentially fatal stunt prior to tying the knot at all suspicious of the avid swimmer. We believe in true love, but were not so sure....

Attorney Corbett Parker made the local news sporting a piece from a designer we brought you back in March. Robert LeQuire's South Haven Wood bow ties are made from wood reclaimed from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His initial purchase was followed by so many compliments, he bought 5 more! The light blue slim fit Tallia suit is a bit of a departure for the usual Houston litigator, but he is determined to flex his fashion chops after losing a few pounds a few years ago.

We have brought you bow ties in a range of fabrics and materials, 

but we have to say, we really enjoyed the really FUN, large crocheted bowtie from Bessie's Creations, which can be used traditionally at the neck or to decorate any piece of fashion. The pattern is downloadable, and is suitable for all, being pitched at a beginner's level. 129 people have rated it on average 5/5 stars!!

The Saville Row Society generously endorsed Gents & Co.'s latest campaign for their already celebrity-endorsed caps. The new campaign features tuxedoed men wearing dark caps. SRS say a gentleman can still wear a cap, as long as it's top notch! Were not so sure since the campaign also features barely clad women - not so classy!

However, we did like Howard C McEwen's post for Bow Tie Aficionado, which also taught us something new. Bow Ties are the Wave Runner of the Men's Fashion World. The Wave Runner is a 'personal water craft' which is so cool and so much fun that it is, apparently, utterly impossible to frown when mounted on one!

He goes on to explain how a the vivid red Excelsior diamond point from the Bow Tie Club did just that after a disastrous week-long break which, "... sucked so hard it actually bent time to make it feel like long three weeks." Apart from the wonderful turn of phrase, he also points out that whilst people tend to glare at the person on/owning the Wave Runner, they (especially women) tend to smile at bow tie wearers. Love it!

The humble bow tie was the reason that Newcastle made the London news in the Metro, because Chancel Mbemba turns up for Newcastle United debut in full tuxedo rather than tracky bottoms. Now Belgium may not be considered one of the fashion capitals of Europe, but it may have had a bearing on Mbemba's fashion choice, since he was just signed from Anderlecht for £8m.

August saw the release of what must at least be considered for our collective anthem.

Diego Gomes's apparently long-awaited summer single Bow Tie dropped mid-month. Fans and friends have been tweeting in anticipation for at least the last 6 weeks! Turns out, it's a song to a girl who makes him want to put on a suit on and shine his fancy shoes... because she makes his bow tie spin! Hmmm, maybe not. There's nothing about class, fashion statement, self-expression, distinction or intelligence in the lyrics. We might be wrong, but we suspect this teen is using the spinning bow tie as a metaphor...

Next delighted us with this tiny blue cotton four-piece bowtie set for 0-18 month olds for just £24.

We LOVE this, but wouldn't it have been fun to have offered a range of fun colours...? It's for babies - toddlers, at best...!

 

The Keppler

The Mobius

The Pascal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also love the Huffington post, but even they had to eat BTB dust as they 'introduced' the concept of the 3D printed bow tie that we brought you back in MAY and further covered in June. In 3D Printed Bow Ties Are A Thing And They're Awesome, they labelled the range of four 3D printed bow ties by Oliver Smith for WonderLuk , 'the coolest style (they'd) ever seen,' of this, '(definitely underused) menswear trend'. 

The Escher

Named for innovators of art, science and maths, the HP gleefully embraced the unisex fashion accessory.

We discovered Mr Talented's Bow Ties which have already been donned by celebrities like Nick Cannon and Adam Sandler. He seems to have a lot of energy , but we're glad he has directed just a smidge to enlarging the BT Universe with innovative designs like these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the UK, Yorkshire County Cricket Club debenture holder Dr Philip Dunn embarked on a Bow Tie-Athon to raise funds for the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation. In Bow Tie challenge raises funds for the Yorkshire cricket foundation the goal of a Century Bow Tie Challenge meant that Dunn had worn 80 just prior to National Bow Tie Day (NBTD) by donning four bow ties per fixture.

The first 40 were specifically based on cricket bow ties.

Things went kinda quiet after that until the week of August 28th...National Bow Tie Day (USA), then everybody got in on the act.

E-online's Kendall Fischer went with the traditional It's National Bow Tie Day: See Justin Timberlake, Jay Z and More Stars Rocking the Trend. We liked the anecdote involving one of our favourite Timberlake tunes Suit and Tie (PLEASE take note, young Diego!)

It not only pays homage to one of the coolest band of BowTieBanditz EVER - the Rat Pack, but also features genuine bow tie choreography - we kid you not!

CNN put together a slide show of 19 Photos of Famous Bow Tie Lovers, including uber cool Afrofuturistic entertainer Janelle Monae, Hugh Heffner with English bunny girls attired in the iconic black bow tie/ white collar uniform; Col. Harlan Saunders in his iconic Western Southern style;  The Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan; The Wire's Brother Mouzone (Michael Potts); Popcorn king Orville Redenbacher (1988); Glee's Blaine Anderson (Darren Kriss);

and The Rat Pack (1988).

The National Bow Tie Day website was full of fun facts like, "The number of Google searches for bow ties outpaces that of neckties and is trending up while in fact the number for necktie is trending down. Just today bow tie comes up at nearly 31.4 million in Google Search and the necktie a mere 12.3 million." (In your FACE, neckties!) and "The fastest time to tie on a bow tie is 13.59 seconds. The record is held by Dhani Jones, NFL player who retired in 2011 with the Cincinnati Bengals..."

Social Media was full of tributes

We thought this one from Mr Beau Tie absolutely ROCKED!

The rest were highlighted by UPI: Bill Nye the Science Guy tweeted a picture with his massive collection, Donald Duck wished everyone a Happy NBTD from Disney; The Philadelphia Museum of Art tweeted the beautifully classy picture of a 19th Century bow tie...

But, our favourite was NASA publishing the beautiful Hubble Telescope picture of the Bow Tie Nebula.

Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 is 4000 light years from Earth and wonderfully represents a central dying star casting out ionised gases and debris as it becomes a White Dwarf. They have published two more in the past:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 As if the UK were taking up the celebratory spirit, our Bow Tie Eye had a bumper month for spotting BowTieBanditz around London.

Bow Tie Eye

Singer and musician Lemar

@Lemar

Event official Nosa Dag

@NosaDag and @BlessEtain

 

Africa Fashion Week London opened at Olympia on August 7th and 8th and was the biggest yet!

 

Every year since it's inception 5 years ago, it has grown in reputation and continues to attract global, sophisticated brands.

 

 If you haven't already guessed it, African print has finally been recognised as the means to a whole untapped market,

Model Amina wears designer

Heat's ensemble. This bow tie

matches the head wrap, skirt

and bag!

The fashion house is Zanjoo

@zanjoostore instagram

and twitter

as well as opening designers to a fresh fashion forward approach to

style,

creative expression

 and unadulterated JOY.

Meet some of the wonderful BowTieBanditz we met walking around the old exhibition space... 



This artist bought his BT in

he Africa Centre in Accra,

capital of Ghana.

@Dolabillz and @Dolabillz_Rapstar

 

Pick of The Pics

This month, we have a tie, jut because these two Fashionistas managed to embody the (all-too-brief) summer wearing a bow tie with fabrics that you wouldn't normally associate with keeping cool.

Musician and designer

Aaron Bernard-Wilson, wearing wool

and still looking dapper with a grey

ASOS BT.

@Atmosphereking

Glamorous David Allen wearing a cotton

H&M BT

@officialdavidallen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, Matt Smith said goodbye as the Patron Saint of BowTiesAreCool, the 11th Doctor by removing his beloved bow tie (Copyright BBC)

We are simply disrobing after some hard and hearty partying, celebrating National Bow Tie Day!

See you all next month!