Enough With the Skinny Ties
What began as an inspired trend has officially been done to death. PLUS: Insistent that skinny ties still have life? Tell us why in our comment section below.
-By Katherine Wheelock
-Photograph courtesy of Landov.
It's not like it wasn't time for an adjustment. As recently as a couple of years ago, the standard American tie was essentially the wide, straight-cut variety that your algebra teacher wore. That model's slim-down began on the runways, driven by nostalgia for a time when men dressed better (for those not steeped in fashion-industry rhetoric, that time was the fifties). From there, it clambered to greater visibility on the necks of spindly rockers: Pete Doherty. Fabrizio Moretti. Ryan Adams. Then, like any epidemic, it spread—to Jude Law. Orlando Bloom. Zac Efron. Even Daniel Craig wasn't immune. At a recent movie premiere, Josh Hartnett had on a tie so borderline-bolo it looked like he was wearing an avant-garde collared shirt with a stripe down the front. The celebrities were followed by packs of knee-jerk adopters—mostly media types. And that's when things went very wrong.
"People like Thom Browne helped our eyes adjust to the smaller lapel, the tighter suit, and the skinny tie," says Tommy Fazio, men's fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman. "But I see some guys on the street now and it's like, 'He's wearing a shoestring!'"
"At some point, you have to figure out what works for you," says Band of Outsiders founder Scott Sternberg. "You have to say, 'This makes me look like a human pear' or 'This thing on my neck makes it look like my head's about to explode.' When my dad's friends request ties, they're getting three-inch tips.
I don't want them rocking skinny ties in Dayton, Ohio."
To be fair, it's not just middle-aged Midwesterners who can't pull off the anorexic tie. Contrary to what its ubiquity suggests, it doesn't look that good on most men.
"The guys wearing it in the beginning were the canaries in the coal mine," designer Michael Bastian says. "But then it just became 'The skinny tie equals cool.' If you've got the whole Joey Ramone thing going on, that's one thing, but if you have on a going-to-work suit, it doesn't work. You have to follow through on your swing."
Besides, anything taken to extremes eventually becomes unseemly. The chunky tie of a decade ago needed a sensible Weight Watchers plan, not an ephedrine-laced diet drug.
"It's really about proportion," Bastian notes. "The guys with the enormous lapels and the super-skinny ties—they didn't get the memo." And those are the guys you can blame when, inevitably, the fashion Tilt-A-Whirl tips and ties get fat again—faster than a no-carb fanatic on an Entenmann's binge—and the only ties you can find are nipple-spanning numbers in oversize plaid.
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Great article. I personally do wear skinny ties but only in proportion to my clothes. My favorite type of tie has a 2.5 to 3 inch spread on the bottom.
for_history
Mar 17, 2008 4:53:23 PM
I am a fan of the whole Hedi Slimane look and it's interesting that this 50's mod look just won't die. I even noticed that Nicolaj Waldau, main actor on New Amsterdam, was wearing a black skinny tie with his skinny suit in last week's episode. He clearly is a fan of Babyshambles.
cleoart
Mar 18, 2008 9:22:20 AM
Because I'm a thin guy, I'm not looking forward to any trends back towards fat ties. Skinny ties aren't the norm in the business circles I'm around, so it still has pop.
okfnjesse
Mar 18, 2008 10:33:46 PM
i just saw skinny ties and still do as a throwback to the 50s as stated in the article and thats mainly why i love them, its the same with rep ties and why i always rock those, its something from a different area where men wore suits everyday and tennis sneakers were solo for tennis. the thing is fashion trends are just that trends, so they have to peak out and fall at some point no matter what, but i still will wear skinny ties because to me it was never about the trend, more about the availability of something i loved from a time i didnt get to enjoy.
lawinstyle
Mar 19, 2008 11:22:22 AM
Skinny ties will die. The attraction that women have towards it just wont let up. There is nothing like a tailored white shirt matched with a black skinny tie. Moderation is always the key. It may be hard but guys will start letting the style breath a little bit. I personally wear my tie once a month. I also swap the color by the month.
KGHUNTER
Mar 20, 2008 11:45:58 AM
I meant to say skinny ties will not die. heh....
KGHUNTER
Mar 20, 2008 11:46:32 AM
Well,it always seems to be the ones not truly acclimated to all things fashion/style that kill a trend but style/fashion is linked to life and life ends,likewise with trends.But it's also funny that this magazine and GQ like will continue to feature fashion spreads featuring said dead trend while simultaneously sounding it's deathknell.Go figure.
Wearright42
Mar 26, 2008 12:16:35 AM
I think that in porportion is where people get it wrong. I hope that the skinny ties don't go away. I can't pull off the thicker ties so well. I tend to shop vintage ties for the smaller spread.
phact0rru
Mar 30, 2008 8:43:26 PM
I like to wear skinny ties, but it depends on my clothes. Nice article.
agomes
Apr 3, 2008 10:15:05 AM
I like to wear skinny ties, but it depends on my clothes. Nice article.
agomes
Apr 3, 2008 10:20:06 AM
The skinny tie is a better alternative for slimmer guys. It proportions shirts and gives a balanced look, just like how Cropped suits look great for slimmer guys.
Fashion should work with the person, not with opinion.
ethos_b
Apr 4, 2008 2:36:49 AM
As a woman, I'm going to put in my two cents: keep rocking the skinny ties, guys. They are sleek. Sexy. Edgy. A great combination of the sophisticated business look with the bad boy! And you know how we girls feel about bad boys :)
jennifer99
Apr 4, 2008 9:01:41 PM