# Name for this item of clothing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888 "2005-01-27T06:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/1 "2005-01-27T06:39:29Z")
If there is one. It’s that little not-tie thing that you see, for example, on womens’ military uniforms. [url=http://www.rhydin.org/uniform/usairforce/USAF7.jpg]Example\* on the females in this picture. My sister (who wears such a uniform) has no idea what they’re called. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/2 "2005-01-27T06:40:40Z")
Gack. Ugly coding. Sorry. [Fixed link](http://www.rhydin.org/uniform/usairforce/USAF7.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/3 "2005-01-27T10:16:17Z")
My daughter’s school uniform used to have one. The uniform company called it a tie. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/4 "2005-01-27T13:24:45Z")
My wife was USAF and used to wear one, although the style has changed since then. The official term then was “tie tab”, commonly just called a “tab”. I did some research, and “tie tab” is still the official term, while “tab” is still the common term. If you’re curious, here’s a 6MB PDF [http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/pubfiles/af/36/afi36-2903/afi36-2903.pdf](http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/pubfiles/af/36/afi36-2903/afi36-2903.pdf) which is the USAF uniform manual. It shows & describes in excruciating detail what to wear & how to wear it. The tie tab is described on the bottom of page 76 & is shown in many pages before that. There are several shape variations used for different uniforms. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/5 "2005-01-27T13:30:16Z")
This [ROTC site](http://www.uh.edu/rotc/CadetHandbook/Chapters/chapter5.htm) calls it a “neck tab”: > [@](#): > > b. Shirt and Tie. The Army green long sleeve shirt is the only shirt authorized for this uniform. A black four-in-hand tie is worn with the shirt. Cadets who are issued rank shoulder boards will wear them on the epaulets of the shirts. A black plastic nameplate will be worn on the right breast pocket of the shirt, centered on the pocket flap. A white undershirt is worn under the green shirt. Women wear a black neck tab in lieu of the four-in-hand tie. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/6 "2005-01-27T13:30:48Z")
Is there any particular reason women don’t wear normal ties? I know they’re traditionally masculine and I assume it’s a bit of cultural inertia but it looks like some of those women might be wearing trousers instead of skirts so I wouldn’t expect that to be the only reason. Or is it? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/7 "2005-01-27T14:51:59Z")
Pure speculation, but maybe the persons who set standards for this sort of thing figured that a standard necktie looks silly when it’s pushed forward and made to dangle freely in midair by female chestal accoutrements. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/8 "2005-01-27T15:04:28Z")
What about the chestal accoutrements of sixty year old bureaucratic generals then? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/9 "2005-01-27T20:18:35Z")
They tend to be accompanied by equal or greater stomach accoutrements, creating a mountainside-like slab of bellyflesh that supports the lower tie and virtually eliminates the “dangle” factor. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-this-item-of-clothing/286888/10 "2005-01-28T00:40:41Z")
_snicker_ Thanks for the answer. Simple and easy.