Easy and Elegant Life

The Search for Everyday Elegance and the Art of Living Well.

The Easy Skinny Tie Style of the Elegant Italians

Most of you know by now that men’s fashions change with glacial abandon… . Which can leave many of us with lapels, shirt collars and ties that are too wide or too narrow. I prefer a tie that is 3 1/4″ wide, but I do own several “skinny” ties. Take the one in the photo above, it is a traditional tartan (by the way, you may wear any clan’s tartan, there is no requirement that you belong to the clan, although you are showing allegiance to the colours…) It is far too narrow to wear with many of my sport coats that have the wider lapels popular in the 80’s, 90’s and earlier this century.

To offset the difference, I took a cue from the Sartorialist who photographed some Italian men wearing their skinny ties in this fashion. Rather than tying the narrower end to fall behind the other blade, they sit side by side. Sprezzatura? Foolishness? Whatever. It works and no one seemed to mind too much.

3 thoughts on “The Easy Skinny Tie Style of the Elegant Italians

  1. Nice combo…the pink looks particularly striking on my monitor, and I wouldn’t have thought to make such a pairing.

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