After the unexpected BT-Fest that
was June's Father's Day, the world welcomed July, reminding folks that not only
was the summer finally here, but t'was the season of rowing regattas, weddings,
garden parties, and Wimbledon! It seemed to us, here at BowTieBanditz, that it
was a sudden realisation, because there seemed to be a rash of 'How To' videos
flooding the internet. The BTB Brethren seemed determined that all should be as
pukka as possible when it came to self-tying. It also might have been the shock
of ex-news royalty Larry King @kingsthings
whose #itsmy2cents confession was that he could never actually tie his own bow
ties. Now, his signature was actually the black braces (suspenders in US
English), but, it was still somehow astonishing! Anyway, we came across at least four instructionals, including one in
the works from teen BT tycoon Mo Bridges. @MosBowsMemphis
is working hard
to help his clientele out, whilst @Dress_Prep felt
diagrams would be better. @BowsNTies accompanied their diagrams with a whole
article at Tie a Tie.net, and our
own beloved @GQMagazine decided that time was of the essence and gave us How To Tie a Perfect Bow Tie in 90 Seconds Or Less!
So, now
that you BTB novices (and closet pre-tiers) have an idea of what the heck
you're doing, we can turn our attention to the first of July's elegant events.
The Henley Royal Regatta was established in 1839 and from its original 2 days is now extended to a five day event - July 1st-5th this year. The usual dress code for gentleman is less formal - club blazers and rowing apparel are allowed in the Regatta enclosure. In the Steward's enclosure, however, the lounge suit, or jacket/blazer with flannels, and a tie or cravat is more strictly observed. Our fervent BTB belief is that Henley is ripe for the bow tie to blossom and make itself felt in future events. Bow tie and Boater may sound like a thing, but we didn't see much in evidence in 2015. Though, fear not, LOOK!! Its already writ large in the Regatta emblem (above) - two crossed sculls beneath a crown!
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JE Collins and JFL Walton
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This year, we had to content
ourselves with the winners of the Double Sculls Challenge Cup - one of 20 events featuring around 90 races. JE Collins and JFL Walton rocked a pair of pink bowties, coordinated with
matching pink flannels, but stamped their individuality all over their blazers
and vest. Congratulations guys, on both a sporting achievement and a fashion statement!
Last month, we introduced you to Scene
9 of @AphidsJKaboodle's BOW TIE FAN-tastic Movie.
Scene 10 was posted on July 7th...
And Bow Tie's continuing adventures for the month can be
found as Scene 11, Scene12 and Scene 13: Rap Battle.
**Clears throat** Now, then, Wimbledon fortnight usually conjures up
images of tennis whites, wooden racquets, Pimm's, strawberries and cream on a
perfect lawn. For us, it conjures up... Ralph Lauren!
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The Butterfly
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The Spencer
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Yep! The Maestro of Preppy poise is the designer
of the 2015 official Lawn Tennis Association club tie and its alternate. The first choice has to be the signature Butterfly
purple and green stripe self-tie, crafted in Italy in hand-stitched rich silk
repp. The tight horizontal weave of the fabric perfectly compliments the diagonal
club pattern and retails at £85. The alternate is the green silk repp Spencer
diamond point bow tie with thin diagonal white stripes and the Wimbledon LTA crossed racquets
logo (£75).
There was
scandal in SW19 in the form of Lewis Hamilton's outfit, which @EsquireUK
decided
to try to defend.
We couldn't comment, because he didn't sport a bow tie! But,
it might have saved the ensemble if he had! Just saying... Then, @BritishGQ rubbed salt in our
wounds with their slideshow of the 27 Best-Dressed Men in the Stands ... None of whom wore a BT. Sigh.
Our spirits were revived by Tom Ford on the catwalks of the first ever S/S16 New York Fashion Week: Men, between July 13th-17th. I'm sure you're as pleased as we are that men's fashion is earning its own discrete event internationally rather than the odd collection or day set aside in the main event.
Ford joined the 40 or so designers who showed their collections, vibing with a strong sense of American sportswear and here, displaying why he is master of the cowl neck dinner jacket.
This led us to the discovery of I Am Bowtie, AKA Pim Spoor, a dedicated fashion blogger from The Netherlands. I Am BowTie chose his name from a love of the BT and suits, mixed with street style. He described this S/S collection as having a playful rockabilly touch in the form of shiny leather jackets, tight jeans, ankle length pants and printed dinner jackets. We LOVE Tom Ford and we love the elegant lines reminiscent of 60s throwback so beautifully captured in films such as The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and his own A Single Man (2009)! Here's hoping he returns to the director's chair soon.
These pieces would POP 30ft high on the big screen!!
Meanwhile, David Hart's collection combined the classic American look with his unique modern gentlemen's perspective, rooted in his original luxury neckwear line of ties, bow ties (hurrah!), and pocket scarves.
For S/S 16, he has expanded to accessorise his ties with a full menswear collection,
embracing geometric
prints, primary colours, and flashes of pastels inspired by the inter-war Bauhaus art period in Germany. Bravo!
Further lifting our spirits was @Tiesdotcom's fantastic video - 100 Years of Men's Fashion in 3 Minutes
Our hearts swelled to see the bow tie representing the first two decades - 1915 and 1925 (take note Henley, please!)
In the spirit of NYFW:M, the Huffington Post featured 14 Men On What Makes Their Style Their Own. Peter Swerdloff (R), a brand consultant, described his Brooks Brothers/J. Press/Ivy League clothing as always being paired with a bow tie. He has a designer in Connecticut who will make bow ties to fit the pattern of any tie you send him - "I don’t think I even remember how to tie a regular tie.” he admitted.
We are rapidly gaining respect for Esquire magazine, as they feature the 10 Best Dressed Men of the Week and opted for actor/writer/director Simon Peggin traditional British black tie with a nod to Savile Row styling with the ticket pocket and tailored sleeves in the 21st century grey single-breasted tuxedo. Nice!
Much as we love the unconventional but deserved choice of Mr. Pegg, when you see a thoroughbred, quirkiness just becomes cute. Yes, stylist @TyRonMayes published his images of Mr. Tyson Beckford in And Magazine wearing a black Michael Costello quilted cotton and neoprene coat with exposed zipper and Costello Menswear bow tie. The designer himself wore the coat to the 2015 Billboard music awards.
We discovered three unique new BT businesses which we would love to know more about: Corbati TYG & Company have hit the ground running with their utterly unique take on the bow tie-neck tie hybrid the Real Bow Tye (L) - like a modern unisex Southern Gentleman..... classy enough for the office, stylish enough for an evening out (@1Yvonne2u2). Whilst @wonderlee123 (R) loves bow tie art and reflects it in every item they create. They offer a bespoke build-a-bow-tie range featuring sheet music, Lego, Monopoly and Scrabble, wearable at the neck or at the waist by many a celebrity like Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee, Wyclef Jean and fashion guru Tim Gunn. 
@WoolandWaterLtd produced the Rainbow Bow Tie in honour of the global recognition of same sex marriage. Essentially a knitwear label, Amsterdam-based Wool & Water seeks to combine traditional craft with a modern aesthetic producing unexpected knitwear for creative modern dreamers. The current collections include the Bow Ties, Skinny Ties with contrast knots and Suspenders/Braces knitted in one-strand cotton and one-strand elastic with a contrast back section ensuring people are still talking about you when you leave the room. Designer Alice personally creates and knits every piece using natural fibres. Bow Ties are knitted in a pre-tied shape with an adjustable strap lined with cotton and using nickel hardware. Each Bow Tie comes individually boxed and is one of only 25 made, making each design a limited edition as specified by it's edition tag. 50% of all sales of The Pride Bow Tie range will be donated to International LGBT charity Stonewall. In the spirit of also making Bow Tie collar attachments for pet cats& dogs, Wool & Water also launched the Pride Bow Wow Tie version later today, again all knitted by me in cotton, only 25 made in each size and comes with it's individual edition tag. Mitch Miller, a 2015 contestant on The Voice (BBC) wore The Pride Bow Tie for his Manchester Pride appearance and it has made so many more in the USA and Europe. 
On the cover of the July 2015 British GQ (R), we found TV-Head Co.'s Joker Hollow Diamond wooden bow tie (L) alongside a Rolex and actor Vince Vaughan. Made from salvaged Purple Heart the Joker comes with a matching pocket square, like all of their other lines ($45)
July was also filled with some seriously geeky BT fun with a definite geeky theme, @CNET invited us to Wear This Bow-TIE Fighter To Your Next Geeky Gathering.
This fantastic handmade cotton fan-boy TIE Fighter bow tie by Birties Bow Ties (also ET, Nintendo games console and an AE-1 Canon amongst others) has caused moral conflict here at BTB. On the one hand, we have the Twin-Ion Engine fighters favoured by the evil Empire's Storm troopers which fly against the Rebel Alliance's X-wings!!!
We went in search of an equally cool X-wing bow tie and was sorely disappointed style-wise - the glow-in-the-dark Rebel Alliance or the red silk boy's. This also led us to this 2014 Star Wars Bowtie Fighter T-Shirt, designed for a “softer look” to the Death Star and the Empire’s feared Tie Fighters in a design by Daniel Sotomayor or the partial poster edition we found on Etsy. 
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Another source of conflict for sus
is the Birties Bow Ties anti-11th
Doctor sentiment...
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@SpeicherTieCo alerted us that their reversible Math Bow Tie is back in stock after they finally found more of this fabric!!!! Reversible Math Graph Paper and Orange Paper Clip Bow Tie - bowtie, bow ties, bowties, equations, fun, cool, men's, boys, pre-tied, self-tie.
And if you fancied your equations in a handmade pre-tied lime green/white gingham (it could happen!!), @kennainafrica has just the thing!
Instagram is coming late to the party as the Daily Elite published Instagram’s Latest Trend Is #BowTieFriday, And It’s An Instant Classic, where 11,000 followers have decided that the last Friday of the month is bow tie Friday - a day to post BT selfies.
Definitely late to the party, and yet a step or so behind the animal kingdom!
Yes, two months ago, we brought you a duck from Devon, last month we brought you llamas from Bolton. This month we bring you alpacas. The Epinard Nasu Hotel in Tochigi decided that BT-wearing alpacas were what was missing from a wedding package! Since both llamas and alpacas originate in pain, we have no idea why...
Now, did you know that the 100 year old Chevrolet logo was based on a bow tie? It looks like a stylised cross, but in Behind the Badge: The Mysterious Origin of Chevy’sIconic Bowtie Tie Logo you will see that it was first introduced by Chevvy co-founder William Durant in 1913. Several stories are presented as truth, but the one which appeals to our immaculate BTB fashion sense is that he was inspired by the wallpaper in a French hotel and he nicked a bit, keeping it for future inspiration!
Bow Tie Eye
Bow Tie Eye was out and about in trendy Shoreditch again and came across the Africa Street Style Festival, Market and Fashion Show on July 26th. Virtually everywhere we looked, different signature styles belied the dreary weather and we found models and civilians rocking various bow ties...
Model and actor Adam Craigmile (L) was about to walk the runway sporting one of the featured African print bowties (twitter @AdamCraigmile).
Model, dancer and actor Ruben De Monte (R) in another featured African print BT was about to head down the catwalk. (Instagram @rubenruben; twitter @RubendeMonte).
Photographer Tre (above) is a big bow tie fan, and we LOVED this blue/red silk BT paired with a denim shirt. Nice! (twitter @eelooking)
Pick of the Pics
We are super-pleased to have our first female Pick of the Pics!
Dr Ronx was a vision of neutral tones which were completely jazzed up and stamped all over with individuality with this wonderful 100% cotton beige and brown African print purchased 12 months before at the same street festival!
So, loyal as well as stylish - rock on, Dr. Ronx, with your BT-self!!
