I found pic of Harrison Ford wearing a bowtie and not looking like a dork. Personally, I find them charming and attractive on a man who can pull off that look. I also tend to like people who develop their own style rather than relying on the fashion industry to dictate what they wear.
Chas, dude, it’s not the bowtie that makes your first model look like a dork. It’s the fact that he’s wearing a combination not seen outside of high school that makes him look like a dork. Check shirts with that large a pattern simply don’t belong in any sort of suit and tie combination. The size of the bow leads me to believe it’s a clip-on as well - I’ve only seen one actual bow tie with a bow that large and it was a school tie for a private institution up in NH. Everything else I’ve seen or owned has a much smaller bow - some almost to the point of being rectangular when tied.
Besides, m’ man - you snap on men who wear bow ties, you’re snappin’ on him - and I don’t know if that’s really kosher. 
Which was the point of my original question, even if I asked it badly.
I wasn’t particularly interested in labels, but contents. I don’t know ChasE. from Adam. I don’t know his circumstances (for all I knew at the time he didn’t have any suits, never had to wear one with any regularity). I work in a very conservative office, with an unwritten but well-established dress code. Wearing a bow tie on occassion lets me step away from the confines of those expectations and add a little dash. Do I wear them (bow ties) exclusively? No. Am I Tom Wolfe (white suit, bow tie, spats, celluloid collar)? No.
If your clothes are clean, well pressed, a good fit,in good condition and well taken care of, and appropriate for the activity you can buy them at KMart and you’ll look pretty good and feel good about yourself. On the other hand, you can buy all the Hugo Boss, Donna Karan, Armani, Lorenizi, Armani, Versace, and Dior you want and still look like an unmade bed or, given your attitude, be perceived as a pompous ass.
You are not your suits.
You are not your pants.
You are not your expensive clothes.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR FUCKING NECKTIES.
I wear one sometimes for the reason that I look dorky. They make ya look smart too. Example? Bill Nye the Science Guy! It is a sign of attitude. Closeted-thinkers and fashion gestapo never wear bowties. Another reason to wear them. You stand out in a crowd. I have nice pictures of me in a dress shirt, overcoat, bowtie and twisty spiky hair. Definitely good, because the girls I know have said it takes balls to wear one and it’s cool and funky. Alternative rocks.
Oh, man. Doctors in bowties. Oh baby. Swoon, pant, give chase. Glad I’m posting this from home.
I own a bowtie. Yes, I know how to tie it.
It’s navy-blue silk with a discreet pattern…not really polka-dots, but tiny lighter-blue spots circled with gold chain, each no more than a millimeter across. I think I bought it when I was on vacation somewhere, and I needed a tie to go to a certain restaurant, and I figured what the hell.
I never wear it because it makes me look like a dork.
And when I feel an overpowering urge to look like a dork, I prefer to wear my copper-red necktie with the big black palm tree and the blue moon on it.
Since we’re poking into each other’s closets, I have four bow-ties: [list]• a plain black one for formal wear with my Prince Charlie jacket,
• a snappy tartan number (Stewart), for everyday wear,
• a subtle black one with silver crescent moons and gold stars for special nights out with the Beloved, and
• one with tiny Winnie-the-Poohs on a light blue background, just for fun.
And, Chas.E., the Beloved doesn’t seem to think I look like a dork in them - far from it. 
And no-one else’s opinion matters.
I think it’s hilarious that the only examples people can find that they claim as fashion examples are Churchill, Edison, and Indiana Jones. Bow ties went out with Indy’s fedora, sometime shortly after WWII. Indy still looks like a dork, they were TRYING to make him look like a dork.
If you want to express your individuality, it is much easier to do it with a regular necktie. Within a restricted range of options, even the smallest difference stands out.
By conforming one can assert their independence. War is Peace. Slavery is Freedom.
im betting chas e is from new jersey.
You’re not getting it. I finally figured it out when I went to see a concert by The Tubes, one of the most outrageous precursors of the Punk era. At one point in the concert, they all went backstage and reappeared in 3-piece pinstriped suits, and resumed singing their punk lyrics. I was immediately struck by this performance, and recognized it for what it was.
In order to communicate with some people, you must eliminate the barriers that separate you. Some people would be put off by my pink paisley thrift-shop shirts and black leather jacket and black jeans, but nobody’s ever threatened by a man in a suit and tie. In order to change the system from within, you must adopt its superficial uniform, but from the necktie up, it’s all up to you. Just because you use the symbols of conformity, does not mean you are a conformist. If you want to see a real extreme example, sometime I should dig up a picture I saw of Jean-Michel Basquiat, wearing an Armani suit with a couple of small splats of oil paint on the pants. BTW, he was wearing a nice necktie.
I own several bowties. I first started wearing them when I was an officer in the army and a bowtie was part of the formal mess uniform. A good friend of mine wore the do-it-up-yourself type of tie so I decided that I would, too. Over the past 10 years I’ve bought several. My favourite is a dark blue, with small white polkadots, not unlike that which Sir Winston himself favoured. I love’em. And nothing is quite as sexy as your woman slowly undoing your bowtie. 
http://www.mechamonkey.com/cofrpics/image48.htm
That’s me, above.
And this is my very first post in the Message Boards!!!
Global Citizen
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Chas.E *
<snip>but nobody’s ever threatened by a man in a suit and tie. </snip>
Hmmm… It would appear that Chas.E feels threatened by men in bow ties. Perhaps it’s their security in having upped the fashionista’s ante? Perhaps it’s their security in having divorced their self-image from the four-in-hand conformists and those that put an inordinate value on what others think of their fashion sense? Perhaps it’s their demonstration of superior manual dexterity by tying one of the damn things?
Chas, you’re among friends here. I can’t speak for the other bow tie wearers, but I assure you that I’m not trying to threaten you by wearing one.
::elbows Creaky out of the way:: No! Hand’s off! They’re mine, all mine!
Aw what the heck. There’s enough of them to go around!
Welcome to the boards, Global Citizen! I’m sure you’re very handsome, but your link didn’t work for me.
I find discussions of fashion vs. individuality endlessly fascinating. In this thread, I’m reminded of my husband’s high-school yearbook, c. 1979. He went to an all-boy’s Catholic high school with a coat-and-tie rule. On picture day, they all tied their ties in ridiculous huge knots and the ties hung about halfway down their shirts. Perusing the yearbook now makes the '70s fashions even more entertaining.
Just for the hell of it, I clicked the ‘Next’ button on that link.
Is that who you were having lunch with?
-ahem-
Welcome to the boards. We’re a nice bunch, really.
Well, Anthony Williams (Mayor of DC) wears one. There was an article in the Washington Post the other day, saying that he, along with the governors of Maryland, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, to pump money into the local economies, went shopping in first New York, then DC. You can see him, wearing a bow tie, checking out other bow ties here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55522-2001Oct1.html
When I was a teacher the Principal made the guys wear ties. A teacher downstars had a “hoe-down” party and gave bow ties to all the “gents” upon entrance.
I wore the tie many times after the party when I taught. Sometimes to be interesting, but mostly to piss off the principal. All the other men started wearing their bow ties while teaching, too. We started “Bow tie Fridays” when the principal wouldn’t allow “Dress down (casual) Fridays”. Some of my students would wear bow ties (on rare occasions). As a gift from a fellow teacher I received a c.1975 LARGE black velvet bow tie - the tips came down to my nipples! I wore that tie many times to spice up my attire.
I’ve changed jobs now, but I still wear a bow tie on occasion. The only negative repercussion is that I occasionally get mistaken for a Louis Farrakan supporter and some of my office mates ask me if I have any copies of “The Watchtower” left for sale.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Kayeby *
**
So many residents, so little time!