Well, to say that I was insulted when he insinuated, no proclaimed that the intention of the revival of the "Skinny Tie" was to accommodate the slim man and in his exact words, "The modern metrosexual bodybuilder who is muscular but small," would be far too understated for reality; I was absolutely livid! Of course I kept perfect composure much as a jaguar who has found his prey napping gloats over the easy kill. My mouth salivated as I listened to his inane rantings about proportion, something of which he knew nothing. My teeth were glistening with saliva and you could clearly "Hear" them shine as I prepared for the death dealing blow!
I first digress here to discuss the insane idea of a "Skinny Bodybuilder"! How ridiculously absurd is this? As a veteran powerlifter/bodybuilder of over 36 years my gym buddies and I have always been amazed when a 160lb man who has been a 160lb man since high school calls himself a "bodybuilder". Excuse me for dispelling he myth, but gentlemen, if you are not actually "Building" muscle constantly, (which means you will not ever remain at 160bls) then your not a bodybuilder... how inherently difficult is this to understand. And gentlemen, the models in Men's Fitness are not bodybuilders... sorry! Please look to Iron Man, Muscle and Fitness and other legitimate publications for a working example of a bodybuilder. Now that that is off my chest I can philosophically move on...
I would be no gentleman if I did not first give some kind representation to the store clerks misguided but sincere argument. It was his established theory that the skinny necktie was invented for thin men to be more in scale with their shallower shoulders and generally diminutive proportions. I refuted that in fact the skinny tie first appeared in the early 1950's following the 1940's trend for very wide ties lapels, collars and trouser legs.
I proceeded to insert a bit of much needed history in order to set the tone of this mind-crushing revelation... but the store clerk, (being clearly ignorant of any history prior to his own un-researched rantings), was unimpressed. So I went on... Turn of the century gentlemen around 1915 shortly before the ending of WW1 in 1918 were wearing narrow lapels, but the ties and collars were proportionately larger in scale than in the 1950's. By the 1920's lapels collars pat legs and cravats had grown wider and wider in anticipation of the generous proportions of the "Zuit Suit". Men's hats were also affected by this era of increase. Men's hats got bigger, brims were ever wider and crowns taller. These proportions did not begin to diminish until around the early 1950's when the classic look of the "Rat Pack" with the thin satin lapels, sharkskin blazers, peg-legged trousers (with a slight, fashionable high-water effect). The so called stingy-brimmed hat became popularized by Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole and others. Now this transition from wide to narrow was not intended as a massive aesthetic movement to empower skinny men who had heretofore been swallowed up in "Big Suits". It was merely a reverse trend, something new... exemplifying the volatility and whim of fashion. Point 1 scored!
Now that his first theory was destroyed he reinvented it saying that designers has all decided to revive the skinny tie two or three years earlier, (between 2008 and 2009), to give smaller men more variety and to develop styles that were more closely proportioned to their shoulder widths and body sizes. My first reaction was that I could actually have been speaking with a totally vacuous man... but i forged on thoroughly positive that there were brain cells that I could hope to transform! I informed him that if he looked closely to trends in fashion, the revival of wide, thin, high, low, dark, light, etc, followed very discernible patterns. Skinny 1900-1920; Wide 1920-1940; Skinny 1950-1970; Wide 1970-1990; Skinny trend around 1978-1980; Wide 1990- to present; Skinny trend 1995 to present in men's suits but not neckwear; Skinny neckwear trending from 2008 to the present. Obviously, the trends tend to overlap during the technical lag between when they show up on the runway and when men actually begin to rock them on the street. In marketing terms, the fashion industry has to keep changing styles in order to keep consumers buying. After a consumer obtains tons and tons of a style he will consume less and less. In College Psychology 101 this is called appropriately, "Stimulus Saturation"! But it death to retail establishments who need to showcase new fashion lines each season. Obviously, changing to an opposite aesthetic will always keep the boys shopping! Lets look at the evolution of the Willie Smith clothing line which spanned from the early 1980's to the mid 1990's. His line introduced America to a wide unconstructed shape reminiscent of the "Zuit Suit". The full and relaxed style had actually been pioneered by Mitsuhiro Matsuda in the late 1970's. MatsudaMatsudaDolce and Gabbana and Kenneth Cole turned the tables to slim flat fronted profiles. Gone were the wide and generous looks of the 80's. The point is that the trend toward skinnier ties, collars, pants and more tailored looks was not fueled by some premeditated conspiracy against big men who represented the typical American male physique, rather it was just another recycling of fashion. Fashion has always been tweaked in favor of the smaller proportioned man. As a powerlifter I will tell you that pret a porter has not been an effortless choice for me since I was a distance runner in college. When I was smaller I could literally pick off the rack without even looking... knowing it would fit! The trending of designers such as FUBU, Cross Colors, Karl Kani, Sean John, Phat Farm, and others have made a conscious effort to increase the size range and generosity of cut to complement the physique of Black, Latino and other American men who tend to have more athletically constructed bodies. Although the trend is now looking to a more tailored and skinny shape these designers continue to defy the trends or blow-up the scale for larger men. Steve Harvey has been one of those new designers who is devoted to providing stylish clothing for men with larger proportions. By the way... that was point number 2 scored in my favor. I concluded that designers did not pull up skinny ties again from the depths of fashion history exclusively for skinny men; it was just another recycling of style typical of the industry and was not meant to exclude big men. 
The third and final insult came as an honest attempt to complement me on my athletic physique, but owing to the fact that I was already, lets say, disquieted, it landed way behind the foul line. The gentleman complemented me on my wide shoulders, chest and back, my thick neck and huskiness and suggested that a skinny tie and collar would get "Lost" in my girth! His suggestion was that I refrain from wearing the skinny ties and collars and stick to the wide ones. That is when I informed him that I had been wearing my collection of skinny 1950's and 1970's ties for over 30 years and that I hunted down the rare and elusive 1950's and 1960's and 1970's companion shirts with small collars to rock them with. I told him that I did not believe in the cliche of small man small tie and big man wide tie. It was my august opinion, (as the self-proclaimed "Cravat King"), to go with what looked best; my theory being that if it looks good it is good! When considering fashion and especially style which is an individualized expression of fashion, it invariably comes down to whether a thing looks good or not. As this is subjective it is by nature relative but there are some rules to go by in order to keep on track with good taste. Let me state here that large men can most definitely wear skinny ties and their companion shirts with narrower collars but not every tie and shirt will coordinate properly. The best of all scenario is if a man can have his clothes custom made but this is not an option most men have time for. I do concede that when it comes to couture clothing the end result is much more desirable from a point of proportion than ready to wear. The busy man who is also a big man need not shy away from the skinny tie and shirt... actually I think large men look especially handsome in this style when properly assembled. Third and final point scored, in my favor... not just because I am the author of this article and can give myself points at an unfair advantage... but because it makes good sound fashion and style sense and provides a practical solution to the personal options that big men have when choosing apparel!
In a former discussion of men's hats I did emphasize the importance of proportion especially for short and wide shouldered men and tall men. Proportion is actually of primary importance when assembling apparel. These are the rules of thumb that I feel govern the necktie shirt and blazer relationship: To accompany this discussion I have included pictures of many well dressed men to exemplify how a tie can be worn elegantly... these photographs should be used as a reference for your own style since these gentlemen have clearly worked out the details... please enjoy these images while I discuss some basic rules of thumb that you may already know...
1. The cravat, when knotted, should complement the shirt collar and must be substantial enough to fill it properly not leaving hollow gaps and showing the portion of the tie meant to lay behind the collar as this is tantamount to being able to see the strap of a woman's thong above the cleavage of her buttocks. A gentleman will always choose a tie width that will knot correctly to suit his shirt collar and that will be in proportion to the lapels of his suit jacket. The best rule is skinny ties go with skinny collars. A skinny tie will be swallowed up in a broad collar and a wide tie will not be too thick behind the collar of a skinny shirt collar and will extend beyond the bottom of he collar.
2. A skinny shirt collar must be coordinated with a skinny blazer lapel and vice versa. A skinny shirt collar will not be sufficient enough to balance the weight of a wide peaked lapel collar on a double breasted suit and it will look weak and insubstantial against a wide single breasted lapel. If you are going to go with a wide look stay with that theme. Tall men have a unique challenge to coordinate the tie and collar width with the width and height of their hats brim and crown. This is one of those grey areas where proportion is relative to what actually looks good.
3. A tall man especially one with wider shoulders, always looks best with a much wider hat brim and higher crown but in certain styles of hat such as the fedora, a skinnier brim can be worn if it looks good. but a skinny tie with a skinny collar and a wide brimmed, high crowned hat with a narrow jacket lapel could be problematic. Many tall and wide men who are meticulous about fashion have discovered it is best to have their suits shirts and trousers tailored. I do suggest this option if a gentleman can afford it because it will automatically correct for any anomalies in proportion. But since this is not a clear option for the majority of men, they will have to sharpen their senses in order to determine what will actually work proportionally with their body.
4. Never wear shirts that are too tight around the neck so that the shirt cannot be comfortably buttoned up to receive a tie.
5. Never wear a tie that is too short, the tie should terminate directly above the belt. up until the 1950's men did wear their ties shorter just around or above the belly button, but then men wore waist coats, cardigans or other vest type apparel to hide the shortness.
6. Never wear a shirt that is too small especially around the arms, waistline back, chest and shoulders. Never wear a shirt when the buttons are pulling the two sides of the shirtfront apart. A shirt, even a highly tailored one meant to conform to the bodies shape, is meant to be and look comfortable. do not wear a long sleeved shirt when the sleeves are too short nor a short sleeved shirt when the sleeves are too tight.
7. A neck tie should always be neat, it should never be soiled or wrinkled unless made from a material that is intended to be wrinkled in appearance. Neck ties should be professionally dry cleaned not machine washed and vintage ties should not be sent to the dry cleaners, old silks will be ruined by the dry cleaning process.
8. Be wary of tie tacks as they will permanently tear the woven quality of silks and some polyesters casing them to tear and frazzle later. Tie tacks are best when used on broad knitted or woven ties wool and rough silks.
9. There are different schools of thought but mine is that the tie should typically summarize two or three main colors of any ensemble. The other school of thought is that the cravat may totally contrast the ensemble.
10. The texture and material of a tie is very important to take into consideration when matching it with a shirt pants and a suit jacket. Whether contrasting or blending select a tie that has the same feel as the ensemble. For instance, be careful not to wear a casual tie with more formal clothing. I will say that it is always best to refrain from wearing a business tie when going out to the club or out on the town. Take time to select ties just for going out and these ties should be more colorful and less conservative than those worn to work... they can actually transform a business suit from mundane to after five in some instances. A shiny tie is not a bad thing when worn with something that calls for it but always try to select a tie made from fine fabrics such as silk, wool, cotton, rayon and very high-grade polyester and synthetic fabric.
11. It is appropriate to sometimes wear a tie that is loosely knotted especially in the summer or after five but if you have loosened your tie during the day at work please be sure to adjust it before a business meeting so that it it crisply knotted.
I took that sales clerk on because my understanding of fashion has taught me there are no absolutes in either fashion or style! On the contrary, what works for one man may not work for the next even though they share the same proportions. But make no mistake, style is all about proportion and getting it right is the end of the aesthetic we call fashion. No man should wear a fashion simply because it is popular. He should chose clothing that suits his personal style and physical proportions the best. Big men should never be afraid to rock any fashion trend especially since most models do not ultimately represent the scale of man that will ultimately purchase the clothing. The average American man is around 5 ft. 10 in. tall and between 180 to 200 lbs. He wears a 44-46 jacket and has a waist between 36 and 40 inches. This is so not the average proportions of a runway model. Male runway models average around 6ft tall, and 150 lbs. with 28-30 waists and wear 38-42 blazers. Their proportions are nearly adolescent in comparison with most mature men. Thank goodness that many new urban designers are developing clothing lines and using models that more accurately reflect the proportion range of the men who will ultimately be wearing them.
I have to recall the part in the move, "Serial Mom" when the young lady fatefully insisted on wearing white pumps after labor day... At risk of meeting the same demise let me say clearly that while we all strive for a general aesthetic of conformity, the world of style is an open-ended book... anything can go theoretically... but remember that when you step out of the door! It is not a bad thing to establish some basic fashion rules but remember that style is the ability to stretch the rules to suit your own individual taste. Neither I nor anyone else is the boss of you when it comes down to your choice of what to wear and how to rock it! All I can hope to do is to inspire some of my brothas to explore new trends and not to be discouraged by stuck-up stylists adhering to antiquated misconceptions about what Big men can wear. History shows it all as I have illustrated, brothas of all shapes and sizes rocking ties, collars, jackets, hats and jackets of all types... and doing it with exqusite style...
Big men... do continue to rock those skinny ties and collars and take time to coordinate them so that you look neat, comfortable and well proportioned in your fashionable clothing. And if you ever come across a sales clerk who tries to tell you that you are too big to wear this look... be a gentleman and ignore his ignorance but kindly inform him that you read an article written by a neckwear enthusiast and that you feel perfectly comfortable exercising your option to go skinny. As you inform him that you appreciate his assistance but will not be needing it any longer... drop the edress of this blog... www.forthebrothas.blogspot.com and get your fashion on!
