Follow TV Tropes

Following

Needs Help: Bowties Are Cool

Go To

CamelCase This is an actual screenshot. from beyond the fourth wall Since: Jul, 2016
This is an actual screenshot.
#1: Aug 23rd 2016 at 4:42:16 PM

I'd put this as Not Tropeworthy, but it might be salvageable.

This trope doesn't seem to know what it's about. The majority of examples are "bowties exist', with the occasional "Memetic Badass wears a bowtie even if it doesn't have anything to do with their Badassness". Even ignoring the misuse, the trope seems to have two definitions: Bowties as an Outdated Outfit (which is just The Same But More Specific of that trope), and Bowties are Actually Cool (of which The Eleventh Doctor seems to be the only example. In fact, it's practically his pet trope to Sinkhole the meme to).

edited 25th Aug '16 9:43:41 PM by CamelCase

ME!? You want ME to be the director of your Christmas play?!
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#2: Jan 6th 2017 at 4:10:42 AM

Opening and clocking.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Xtifr World's Toughest Milkman Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
World's Toughest Milkman
#3: Jan 6th 2017 at 12:09:24 PM

I've aways thought this was Whovian Fan Myopia.

Speaking words of fandom: let it squee, let it squee.
Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#4: Jan 6th 2017 at 12:20:31 PM

Bowties appear on odd kind of outfits which might be a thing such as Emizel in Disgaea 4 with a bowtie and hoodie. Wearing a bowtie in a tux and such would be more about a Tuxedoed Up trope. And Bowties and other ribbons are a Magical Girl costume trope.

Other than those three a bowtie is just not a thing.

naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#5: Jan 6th 2017 at 3:22:02 PM

I think the Bowties Are Actually Cool flavor does have value as a trope.

Traditionally, bowties have been seen as geeky and are part of the standard uniform of the Hollywood Nerd. You know, the geeky guys with the thick glasses, pocket protectors, suspenders, and bowties, something of a Dead Horse Trope now. But in this context bowties signifying coolness are a subversion of this trope, or a deliberate invocation of Nerds Are Sexy.

With this in mind, I think this trope is workable if both the trope description and examples are more specific about what is cool, in-universe about both the character and the bowtie. Possible flavors that I think are legitimate:

  • Bob is never seen without his bowtie and is The Casanova, Big Man on Campus, etc.
  • Bob is a Badass in a Nice Suit who wears bowties as part of his tuxedo
  • Bob wears bowties as part of a deliberate and discussed attempt to "look cool", regardless of what other characters may think about bowties.

edited 6th Jan '17 3:28:15 PM by naturalironist

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
Josef5678 Psshhh... from Virginia Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Mu
Psshhh...
#6: Jan 6th 2017 at 4:01:00 PM

[up] This. As long as it can be used to mean something, and not just "people wearing a bowtie", then this is easily salvageable.

Xtifr World's Toughest Milkman Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
World's Toughest Milkman
#7: Jan 6th 2017 at 5:29:43 PM

Seems like such things would be better suited to a more general trope, rather than one specific to bow ties. Because then we'll need a trope for each of the other dozens of articles of clothing that might be used in a similar manner.

Speaking words of fandom: let it squee, let it squee.
captainpat Since: Sep, 2010
#8: Jan 6th 2017 at 6:19:53 PM

Cut. I don't how this is "salvageable" when all the examples on the page are pretty much just "this character wears a bowtie".

naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#9: Jan 6th 2017 at 6:27:15 PM

This entry has some insight:

Real Life:

  • When ties became regarded as uncool in the 60s, bowties were the first to go (neckties were saved by getting larger). In the 80s, the bowtie had a resurgence among "yuppies", but they became Deader Than Disco once again by the 90s. In the early 2010's, they came back in fashion again; with everyone from high school students to dads to celebrities are rocking them.

There is something of a Cyclic Trope here:

I would argue that the combination of Hollywood Nerd, Badass in a Nice Suit, and Awesome Anachronistic Apparel is unique to bowties, and thus is worth a trope. While there are plenty of examples here that are just "character wears a bowtie" or are actually examples of nerdy characters that Report Siht happened to like (e.g. Bill Nye, FoxTrot), I think there are also a fair number of examples (Bruce Wayne, the Homestuck examples, some of the music examples) that probably count and just need to be reworked to explain the context.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
captainpat Since: Sep, 2010
#10: Jan 6th 2017 at 6:57:02 PM

Not seeing how Bruce Wayne is an example. Nerds wear bowties but I don't think it's the bowtie itself that's nerdy.

edited 6th Jan '17 6:57:30 PM by captainpat

TropesForever from TropesForever Since: Sep, 2016 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
#11: Jan 7th 2017 at 3:27:35 PM

While People Sit On Chairs shoehorning is a major problem, we should also consider the description. I tried to do a wick check, but I realized it was pointless because I pretty much defined "valid example" as "anything where the bowtie has any significance whatsoever" even though what it signifies varies wildly between the examples. It needs to have one specific focus. Personally, I think we should either change this to Bowtie Of Nerdiness or cut it. Maybe there should be a crowner?

Karxrida The Unknown from Eureka, the Forbidden Land Since: May, 2012 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
The Unknown
#12: Jan 7th 2017 at 5:28:40 PM

Appearance Trope with Chairs issues = not worth our time or salvageable = kill it.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?
Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
How sweet it is
#13: Jan 8th 2017 at 8:53:23 AM

I can get behind a cut.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Xtifr World's Toughest Milkman Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
World's Toughest Milkman
#14: Jan 8th 2017 at 9:38:39 AM

Too many inbounds for a cut. We'll probably need an appropriate redirect target. Most likely, something about making the nerdy look cool, or possibly something about Cool Outfit.

And of course, we'll want to make sure we have the various tropes (plural) that the examples should be moved to.

Speaking words of fandom: let it squee, let it squee.
pokedude10 Since: Oct, 2010
#15: Jan 8th 2017 at 7:46:49 PM

I see something with this trope. Bowties do tend to represent the nerdyness/stuffyness/age of characters. I think that might be a trope. But as an "X is cool" trope, no.

I vote cut, regardless of inbounds. What about redirecting to Awesome Anachronistic Apparel, or Nerd.

Getta Since: Apr, 2016
#16: Jan 8th 2017 at 9:08:11 PM

From reading the page's description, I think bowties are much like Nice Hat - being something iconic to the wearer. Them being nerdy, cool, outdated etc are simple descriptions that are affected with the era and are ultimately inconsequential.

We don't need justice when we can forgive. We don't need tolerance when we can love.
Xtifr World's Toughest Milkman Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
World's Toughest Milkman
#17: Jan 8th 2017 at 11:05:31 PM

We could always try something like Our Bowties Are Different. That would at least cut down on the ZCE problem.

(I don't think this is a serious suggestion, but having made it, I suddenly can't decide.) :)

Speaking words of fandom: let it squee, let it squee.
TropesForever from TropesForever Since: Sep, 2016 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
#18: Jan 8th 2017 at 11:19:39 PM

[up] Any "Our X Are Different" format is way too vague for a Chairs-inclined appearance trope.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#19: Jan 9th 2017 at 2:06:18 AM

Has someone done a thorough wick check? It can be very informative in such situations. My sense is that the page should be cut or disambiguated, though, and people send actual tropes into TLP.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
TropesForever from TropesForever Since: Sep, 2016 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
Karxrida The Unknown from Eureka, the Forbidden Land Since: May, 2012 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
The Unknown
#22: Jan 9th 2017 at 2:22:31 PM

Chairs usage is over 50%. Good enough reason to burn the entire thing.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?
naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#23: Jan 9th 2017 at 3:18:02 PM

Sorted examples from this page. Text are my (brief) justifications for the categorization, not the actual example text, which is almost uniformly unhelpful.

Character wears a Bowtie: 68

Actually Cool: 33

Nerdy or Anachronistic: 16

Mixed/Other: 13

Uncategorized: 32. I didn't get to the Web Original, Western Animation, or Real Life sections. Most of the Real Life examples lean heavily towards Chairs.

    Character Wears a Bowtie 

     Bowtie is actually cool 

     Bowtie is Nerdy or Anachronistic 

     Mixed/Other 

Most of the examples that are "actually cool" aren't playing around with Hollywood Nerd stereotypes, though some do. This seems like a fairly new take that needs more time to develop. More often, bowties are used as a visual shorthand for (or are actually part of) a tuxedo. So most of the good examples could probably be folded into Tuxedo and Martini, Sharp-Dressed Man, or Badass in a Nice Suit.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
Getta Since: Apr, 2016
#24: Jan 9th 2017 at 5:50:47 PM

Again, what about bowties as an iconic part of a character? That is tropable too, right?

We don't need justice when we can forgive. We don't need tolerance when we can love.
captainpat Since: Sep, 2010
#25: Jan 9th 2017 at 7:13:06 PM

[up][up]

Almost all of those examples are characters that wear suits and other formal attire for which bowties are a common accessory for so the best we can do is move the good examples to those pages and cut this.

PageAction: BowtiesAreCool
12th Jan '17 6:38:32 PM

Crown Description:

What to do with Bowties Are Cool?

Current wicks: 589 Current inbounds: 1589

Total posts: 54
Top