# I bought a bow tie **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547 "2015-01-11T16:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/1 "2015-01-11T16:42:41Z")
I’ve been putting it off for 30 years. Yesterday I was buying a shirt, and there was the bow tie display. I bought one. The last time I wore a bow tie was when I was very, very young. I must have been about five. ([Here’s a pic from when I was about three](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/johnny/johnny8.jpg). I was quite the dapper kid.) It was a clip-on. Now I’m going to have to learn how to tie a proper bow tie. I picked up a card from the shop, and I know there are YouTube videos I can watch. (Interestingly, the card has instructions for tying a half-Windsor on the other side. I’ve forgotten how to tie one, having only done full Windsors for the past couple of decades.) I can’t wait to shock people with my geekitude. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/2 "2015-01-11T16:44:44Z")
You just officially got _old._ Hope you have a lawn. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/3 "2015-01-11T21:21:19Z")
Don’t you work from home most days? Depending upon the season, when I work from home it’s a T-shirt or a sweatshirt. No [Del]ties[/Del] _collars_ for me. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/4 "2015-01-11T21:25:17Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Don’t you work from home most days? Depending upon the season, when I work from home it’s a T-shirt or a sweatshirt. No [Del]ties[/Del] _collars_ for me. He didn’t say he was tying it around his _neck._ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/5 "2015-01-11T21:29:05Z")
I bought a bow tie about a year ago, and watched a few online videos to learn how to tie it. They were helpful, but definitely take some time to practice tying it in advance of when you plan to wear it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/6 "2015-01-11T21:38:48Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Don’t you work from home most days? Depending upon the season, when I work from home it’s a T-shirt or a sweatshirt. No [Del]ties[/Del] _collars_ for me. Most days. Thought I’d wear it on an office day. > [@running\_coach](#): > > He didn’t say he was tying it around his _neck._ ♬ _Lad, I don’t know where you’ve been But I see you won First Prize!_ ♬ ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/7 "2015-01-11T21:55:29Z")
Just read a book, **The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons** , by Sam Kean, in which he tells an anecdote about three winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine who got to Stockholm and found out they’d need tuxedos. Fine. That they could do. But none of these brilliant men knew how to tie a bow tie. Turned out that one of the three had a son who played in a youth orchestra where he had to wear a bow tie for every performance. He tied the bow ties for all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/8 "2015-01-11T22:15:13Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Don’t you work from home most days? Depending upon the season, when I work from home it’s a T-shirt or a sweatshirt. No [Del]ties[/Del] _collars_ for me. A bow tie JUST might work with a sweaty T-shirt. I can just imagine Mr. J.LA mowing the front lawn while children and grandmothers walk by. 😃 I would do it, but I have no front lawn 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/9 "2015-01-11T23:19:59Z")
Welcome to the International League Of Jimmy Olsen Fans. Here’s your [Signal Watch.](http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/BraveBold/jimmy.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/10 "2015-01-11T23:53:03Z")
Tread carefully. You must now decide what type of nerds you will be. Will you be a [literary nerd](http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/bwe/images/2010/06/British-Professor-Man.jpg)? A [science nerd](http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a2/d3/e1/a2d3e1f6f1f4e340d97fce5626f98c35.jpg)? Choose wisely, if you’re not careful you could end up like [this poor bastard](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1f/fc/23/1ffc23f0216fce06d9b2542c42cbce3d.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-bow-tie/709547/11 "2015-01-12T00:07:15Z")
Well, I did like watching Bill Nye the Science Guy back in the '80s…