On Bow Ties

I feel like I'm always writing about something I did or something that happened to me.  Today, let's talk about you.

You don't wear bow ties often enough.  When you do wear them, you are usually a groomsperson in a wedding, and your bow tie is, all too often, pre-tied and the same color as the flowers.  Alas, you have no control over these circumstances, and you have started to associate the bow tie with only such circumstances.  You are missing out on so much.

Bow ties occupy several discrete spots on the formality spectrum.  If you are wearing jeans and a button-down (as pictured) and you want to dress it up a bit, bow tie!  If you are wearing a suit and you want to dress it down a bit, for the country-lawyer look, bow tie!  If you are wearing a tuxedo, a grosgrain black bow tie is the default--you only wear a straight tie if you are disdainful of tuxedo formality, which you shouldn't be.