History Main / BowTiesAreCool

* ''{{Zatanna}}'' wears one, in keeping with her deliberately magician-like costume: a MsFanservice variant of the classic tuxedo, complete with top hat but '' [[LeotardOfPower sans]]'' [[LeotardOfPower pants]].

* 1958 [[FormulaOne World Driver's Champion]] Mike Hawthorne always wore a bow tie with his driving suit.

** The Sixth Doctor also wore a type of bow tie, although his were over-long strips of blue or red cloth tied into a bow.

* And now they're back in fashion big-time, and everyone from high school students to dads are rocking them.

If, as is usually the case, the wearer is a [[{{Elders}} Gentleman of a Certain Age]], it indicates that he's stuck in the past -- a more subtle form of OutdatedOutfit. If the wearer is a younger man, it indicates that he ''really'' doesn't have a clue.

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* Required for every fictional and real-life MalcolmXerox.
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[[caption-width-right:284:[[Creator/MattSmith The Eleventh]] [[Series/DoctorWho Doctor]] [[TropeNamer endorses this trope]].]]

And one should never forget that no matter what, there's one particularly cool suit that ''always'' has a bow tie... a [[TuxedoAndMartini Tuxedo.]]

** JimmyOlsen frequently has one.

* Tapper Smurf, the [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] [[TheBartender bartender]], usually wears a green bow-tie that goes with his green-striped WaistcoatOfStyle in ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf''.

* Max winds up sporting one in the latter acts of ''{{Rushmore}}''.

* In ''{{Sabrina}}'', Harrison Ford, playing the romantic lead, wears a black-and-white spotted bow tie, although this may be because the film can't decide what decade it's set in (or it may be to hint that he's really old and shouldn't be chasing nice young girls).

* Buckaroo Banzai from ''TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension'' frequently sports a bow-tie, following his '80s nerd-chic look.

* ''PeeWeesBigAdventure'': Pee-wee wears his signature red bow-tie throughout. He buys a boomerang version at the beginning of the film, but it's his only ChekhovsGun that doesn't pay off. The scene was cut.

* Creator/AgathaChristie's HerculePoirot.

** The Eleventh Doctor: The TropeNamer! Played with, slightly, in that [[{{Adorkable}} he's the only one around who actually thinks this.]] This is a RunningGag. According to ''Series/DoctorWhoConfidential'', it was Matt Smith himself who chose to wear the bow-tie as part of his official Doctor outfit. Because he knew they were cool.

** The Second Doctor (from whom Eleven took a few dress cues) also frequently wears a bow-tie. The Third Doctor is also known to rock a bow-tie every so often, although his are usually a bit more elegant and flashy than the other two mentioned Doctors'. The series is enough of a LongRunner that bow ties hadn't gone out of fashion at the time these were produced, though, so they may not count.

** There is also Bill Nighy's character, Dr. Black, in "Vincent and the Doctor", who wears an even larger bow-tie than the Doctor. The difference being that Dr. Black is an art historian and it's to be expected that he would look a bit old-fashioned. The Doctor makes this another excuse to use the TropeNamer in an attempt to convince Amy. She's unimpressed.

* In ''{{NCIS}}'', Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, the service's medical examiner, ancillary CoolUncle of the main group, English gentleman[[note]]The character's technically a scot but he studied at Oxford[[/note]] and perpetual font of trivia tangential to the case at hand, always wears a bow-tie to the morgue.

* ''BillNyeTheScienceGuy''. Quite a few scientists in RealLife also wear bow-ties because they can't fall into beakers or chemical spills like regular neckties can. No doubt Bill was just going for the {{Adorkable}} look, though.

* ''GossipGirl'''s Chuck Bass, especially during the third and fourth seasons, loves bow ties. One reviewer suggested this was so Blair could straighten them, allowing the two to have close and intimate moments.

* Jade Thirlwall from {{Little Mix}} has a bow tie as her ident and is often seen wearing one. In the music video for Wings, which has over 60 million views, she is seen in a room full of them. Few female celebs have been associated with it as much as her.

* [[EnforcedTrope Enforced]] in professional snooker: the dress code explicitly mandates vest, shirt and bow tie for all players, even women. (Only medical reasons, such as a thyroid condition, can exempt you.) Players don't particularly like the bow tie; taking it off when the opponent has nominally won the deciding frame signals "I'm not coming back to the table anymore."

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Carl Clover wears a giant [[EverythingsBetterWithZippers Zipper Pull]] as one.

* [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] [[http://spriters-resource.com/nes/punchout/sheet/30144 wears one in]] PunchOut !!

* ''Webcomic/HarkAVagrant'': Soon-to-be Canadian PM Lester Pearson accepts the nickname "Mike" on the terms that [[http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=294 he be allowed to continue wearing his bow-tie.]] [[http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/series/primeministers/images/main-LBP.gif&imgrefurl=http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/series/primeministers/stories/lbp-20020201.html&usg=__ueJocwUfGP8kTo_Nxrbf9gyUsJQ=&h=168&w=195&sz=12&hl=en&start=0&sig2=1gXfP33u80CIhyAxLQQ8LA&zoom=1&tbnid=akQZGqxJqO52-M:&tbnh=133&tbnw=155&ei=1Ts7TZjzJcH7lwf8o6TqBQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3DLester%2BPearson%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1126%26bih%3D685%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=530&vpy=107&dur=2135&hovh=134&hovw=156&tx=95&ty=82&oei=lDs7TfWpMZD3gAfFsbzBCA&esq=8&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0 He can rock it though]].

** Tellingly, [[TokenEvilTeammate undying]][[NotSoHarmlessVillain Umbrage]] ([[spoiler:Caliborn]]) rocks this trope in combination with suspenders, invoking images of both the TropeNamer and BiggerBad Lord English, [[spoiler: who is his future self]].

* [[WebVideo/SadPandaQAndA Sad Panda]] spends most of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' cosplaying as the [[TropeNamer trope]] [[Series/DoctorWho namer]], including rocking a bow tie.

* Although he's supposed to look dorky in his, Creator/MattSmith might actually be able to bring bow-ties back. ''Series/DoctorWho'' is popular enough, and fashion is cyclical. If nowhere else, among guys trying to impress Matt Smith fangirls. Apparently, [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/7656389/Doctor-Who-prompts-surge-in-popularity-of-bow-ties.html it has.]]

* [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]] dons one of these (along with a [[DashinglyDapperDerby bowler hat]] when he's in his "World Famous Attorney" persona.

* [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]] dons one of these when he's in his "World Famous Attorney" persona.

* [[BloomCounty Opus the Penguin]] is almost never seen without his bow-tie. (He wore a necktie while running for Vice President, but didn't like it, and after his running mate lost, quickly bought a new bow-tie.)

* King Candy from ''Film/WreckItRalph'' sports an oversized, shiny red bow-tie made from a candy wrapper.
* Milo from ''AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' wears a bow-tie for the first quarter of the film.

* La Aristocrata is another example of bow ties are sexy, and that is often all he wears from the waist up.

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* Lex the bookworm from ''VideoGame/Bookworm'' wears a very small, bright red one.

* [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} David Otunga]] tends to wear a bow tie when not in the ring. (He's John Laurinaitis's legal advisor, and in RealLife is [[GeniusBruiser actually a Harvard graduate]].)
* "Million Dollar Man" Wrestling/TedDiBiase always looked snappy in one. His son Wrestling/TedDiBiaseJr. opts for midcentury casual instead.

'''The Doctor:''' [[RuleOfCool That's why it's cool]].

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* The current Prime Minister of UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elio_Di_Rupo Elio Di Rupo]], is never seen without a bow tie. The bow tie is [[IconicItem so closely associated with him]] that the coalition agreement that formed his government (after ''589 days'' during which Belgium didn't have one) is called "the Butterfly Agreement" (the word for bow tie and butterfly are the same in French and Dutch).

* UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill often wore a bow tie. And was CrazyAwesome.

Certain items of clothing, in the real world, look ridiculous. Bow-ties are one of these items. Out of fashion for about 40 years now, they look fussy, old-fashioned and slightly dorky to most people.

As it's usually a male item of clothing, a woman wearing a bow-tie is often depicted as either unorthodox or wearing it as part of some [[{{Stripperiffic}} skimpier ensemble]] [[{{Fanservice}} designed to tease]] (such as the PlayboyBunny costume). This latter approach may also be called on by some men (such as the Chippendales). The alternative in porn in the appropriate setting is to have a beautiful woman wear a bow-tie and ''nothing else'' (a variation on DiamondsInTheBuff).

And one should never forget that no matter what, there's one particularly cool suit that ''always'' has a bow-tie... a [[TuxedoAndMartini Tuxedo.]]

See also RealMenWearPink, AwesomeAnachronisticApparel. The wearing of a bow-tie is notable enough for TheOtherWiki to have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bow_tie_wearers its own list]] on the subject.

** Apparently in the UK at least, there has actually been an increase in sales of bow-ties since Matt Smith took the role.

** The Second Doctor (from whom Eleven took a few dress cues) also frequently wears a bow-tie. The Third Doctor is also known to rock a bow-tie every so often, although his are usually a bit more elegant and flashy than the other two mentioned Doctors. Though the series is enough of a LongRunner that bow ties hadn't gone out of fashion at the time these were produced, so they may not count.
*** The Third Doctor's costume at least, was out-of-date (or rather, out-of-time); although he looks like a hippy at times, the costumes were actually provided by Jon Pertwee himself, who had discovered a load of Edwardian clothes in his grandfather's attic.

** Bernard Lee's M is also a bow-tie wearer; wearing one in the office.

But not for these guys. For these guys, Bowties Are Cool. And they will never be seen without one, usually to the exasperation of the people around them; though they think they look like hot stuff, they'll appear to everyone else as... well, fussy, old fashioned, and/or slightly dorky. A certain type of character ''might'' [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel be able to pull it off]], looking incredibly BadAss in the process, or at least managing to look rather {{Adorkable}}. Or both!

Since it's usually a male item of clothing, a woman wearing a bow-tie is often depicted as either unorthodox or wearing it as part of some [[{{Stripperiffic}} skimpier ensemble]] [[{{Fanservice}} designed to tease]] (such as the PlayboyBunny costume). This latter approach may also be called on by some men (such as the Chippendales). The alternative in porn in the appropriate setting is to have a beautiful woman wear a bow-tie and ''nothing else'' (a variation on DiamondsInTheBuff).

** MonsterOfTheDay Jamanen from the [[Anime/SailorMoon original anime]] wore a bowtie...and nothing else.

** His arch-enemies, SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker and the Penguin tend to wear them as well as part of their old-fashion dress suits.

** Clark Kent would also wear bow-ties on occasion, and actually ''prefers'' them to regular neckties since they don't flap in his face while flying, but every time he wears one people constantly mock him about it.

* Averted by Cyclops of the ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}'', who used to wear truly hideous bow ties when he was in civvies. Happily, he seems to have given up on them.

* ''ComicBook/RichieRich'' constantly wears a bowtie.

* One ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip has Jason wearing a bow-tie to school due to believing people with bow-ties look smarter. He also wore a AlbertEinstein mask until the nose was dented. It should be noted that Jason was already making A+++ and higher grades. He was just trying to pad his grade even ''more'' with this trope.
* [[BloomCounty Opus the Penguin]] is almost never seen without his bow-tie. (He wore a necktie while running for Vice President, but didn't like it, and after his running mate lost, quickly bought a new bowtie.)
* Dagwood regularly wears a bowtie to the office in ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}''.

* King Candy from ''Film/WreckItRalph'' sports an oversized, shiny red bowtie made from a candy wrapper.

* Both the original ''TheNuttyProfessor'' and its remake have the main characters wear bowties in their good guy personas.

* Pharrell Williams sports a bowtie in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM "Happy" music video.]]

* In the ''Citadel DLC'' for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', when Liara's holographic assistant "Glyph" decides to change into a more festive outfit for Shepard's house party, he returns sporting a very large holographic bowtie.

** Seemingly in imitation of the style of LE/Felt/[[spoiler:Caliborn]], the Trickster Mode versions of both the male players in the B2 session feature bowties, and Jake wore one just before engaging Trickster Mode anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' wears a necktie, but a bowtie seems to work for his pal Boo-Boo. You might say Boo-Boo is dressed sharper than the average bear.

* Ice King from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' [[spoiler: when he was once Simon Petrikov, he used to wear a red bowtie with his suit]]
* Mr. Funny and Mr. Fussy both wear bowties in ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow''.
* {{WesternAnimation/Babar}} wears a red bowtie.

** Carlson's bowtie was famously mocked by [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] in a live interview.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', all Mr. Peabody wore was a bow tie and OpaqueNerdGlasses.