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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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I meant to say skinny ties will not die. heh....
KGHUNTER
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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
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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
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I like to wear skinny ties, but it depends on my clothes. Nice article.
agomes
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I like to wear skinny ties, but it depends on my clothes. Nice article.
agomes
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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
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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
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Are you kidding me, thats all you, all at Conde' Nast can think of to write about in the so called "mens fashion," articles. Please learn about real fashion. Every article for the last 5 years in Details and Gq about fashion are about suits,and mixing it up is like telling people to put sneakers with a suit. Are you kidding me this isn't good fashion. Get something better to write about.
Fuckgq
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Coming from the mod camp, naturally I'm an advocate for the skinny tie. Besides making them I often pair then up with various looks. I tend to agree that the regal neckpiece is becoming a bit overexposed, but that's what happens when fashion falls into the wrong hands. I guess the great designers including myself will need to prompt another paradigm shift...
modstyle
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Daniel Craig is not a slim guy. Why is he sporting a thin tie? I think the thin tie is a classic in its own right, but it should be worn by those who can pull it off. Skinny ties are for thin musician-designer types wearing slim-cut suits. If you're a financial analyst or corporate lawyer, you should go with wider, more conversative neckwear. If you're in a more creative industry, or going out at night, it's OK. I just hope all the Hollywood guys and whomever else don't make it too mainstream, but it might be too late. I think the skinny tie should live forever, but be a little more underground again.
roknrol78
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2.5 - 3" = Acceptable tie status.
Read more on some manshion (man-fashion) rules here:
http://www.manshion.net
manshion.
man fashion. simple.
manshion
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Slim tie's rock....but makes sense only for Lanky dudes.
tonicar2007
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most of the commentators on this article have the right idea. skinny ties work with the right suit--slim, with skinny lapels. i wear a 1.75 inch tie with a Dolce & Gabbana suit. it looks great. but also, i don't have a chunky, meaty neck or a big head, which makes the skinny tie look funny. and i wouldn't wear my skinny tie with, say, a Paul Stuart suit, which tends to have wider lapels, even though the suit might hug my well toned body. furthermore, as several have already noted, you wouldn't want to wear a skinny tie and suit to the office if you work in corporate America, you poor bastards. but it looks great in galleries, the music industry, night clubs, etc. as for me, i just wear it whenever and where ever i want because i'm so goddamn cool. oh yeah, you just read that.
Philm
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Personally I prefer slim ties, not skinny ties. Maybe 2"- 2.5" at the widest point and I hope the slim tie never dies. I could do without anything under 2" which in my opinion starts to look ridiculous the slimmer it gets no matter who's wearing it and what type of suit you're wearing. It just sticks out too much in proportion to what you're wearing. I've never been much of a fan of the standard fat wide tie either and since the slim tie has started being designed by more people I've started incorporating it more into my daily work wear which is mostly jeans, slim button downs, sweaters, and blazers. Look at Alexander Olch's ties, perfect in my opinion.
brooklyn718
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