Well, with a fellow possessing as many gifts as Smitty, it would really have been too much to expect complete perfection. Although I confess that I would have been less shocked had he admitted to being a high panjandrum of the Illuminati, or a secret collector of Hummel figurines.
Smitty finds the standard necktie to be a mark of conformity. Indeed it is: a concession among all right-thinking men to tradition and good taste. He also avers that the wearing of a bow tie represents the making of a statement. The only statement I can think of is, “I am so proud of my shirt, that I have taken the liberty of wearing an inconspicuous bit of fluff about my neck so as not to impede your view of this expanse of fabulous Egyptian cotton.”
But as I, and the Romans before me, said, De gustibus non est disputandam (or non disputandam est, according to purists). We may bandy words ad infinitum without proving one side of the case or the other.
In closing, however, I will leave you with a bit of visual evidence that comes as close to proving my point as is humanly possible. Observe the following photos – which, I assure you, were picked completely at random. I leave it to you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, to decide.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
That just shows to go ya, the only thing worse than a Virginian from North Carolina is a Virginian from the state of Washington.
ReplyDelete(Instead of Pee Wee, I expected as I scrolled down to see Paul Simon.)
Dude, who are you talking about? Who's the Virginian from the state of Washington?
ReplyDeleteSteve Burri -- You did see Paul Simon.
ReplyDeleteWant proof bowties suck? Buckaroo Banzai wears a bowtie. Doc Savage wears neckties or an open collar...
Smitty is from Washington originally.
ReplyDeleteBravo, Paco! Case closed.
I see your Reagan and raise a Churchill.
ReplyDeleteBut I am the Virginian who has lived in Washington, although I'm actually Oregonian by birth.
Smitty: Churchill looked rather like a bull dog, so his bow tie resembled a high-class dog collar (perfectly acceptable). I'll grant you Churchill. But consider some of these other bow-tie-ists; Karl Marx, Arthur Schlesinger, the late Senator Paul Simon.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're one of the exceptions, Smitty (i.e., one who looks suave and elegant regardless of his neck-wear).
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you'll note, Pee Wee is wearing a cheater, which I explicitly singled out for derision.
ReplyDeleteI would assume that you can tell the difference between Vermont's finest and Aunt Jemima, sir.
As a matter of fact, I don't believe I've ever had genuine Vermont maple syrup. But in culinary matters, I confess to being a total plebeian.
ReplyDeleteA real man's neck wear is a rattlesnake tie, whether bow or traditional.
ReplyDeleteMr. G: Well, I certainly wouldn't dispute that with a fellow who was wearing such a tie.
ReplyDelete