Vintage 1960s Men's Ties

Men’s Ties

 

With the advent of the 1960s, men's ties went on a diet after the era of wide ties in the 1940s and 50s. Enter the skinny tie. As the name suggests, the skinny tie is narrower than the standard tie and often all-black. Skinny ties have widths 1 ½ to 2 ¹⁄₂ inches at their widest, compared to  3 to 4 inches for regular ties. 

F Fans of British bands such as The Beatles and The Kinks, alongside the mod subculture, popularized skinny ties in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The clothes of the time had evolved to become more form-fitting and tailored. Knitted skinny ties with a squared-off bottom were especially popular.

Standard neckties:

Neckties with a pointed bottom were still the “go-to” tie for most occasions.  Most were a solid color or had multiple colored horizontal stripes. As the decade progressed, textured ties were the latest and greats neckwear design. Tweed, nubby silk and waffle polyester added interest to plain colors. Small monograms and designs in the center of the panel was also a trademark of 1960s ties.

The mid-1960s brought about an influx of pop art influenced designs. The first was designed in Britain in 1965 by Michael Fish. Ties became wider and went to the other extreme – giving birth to some of the widest neckties ever, up to 6 inches and sometimes in wild colors and designs.

 

Bow Ties:

Popular perception tends to associate bow tie wearers with particular professions, such as architects, finance, attorneys, university professors, teachers, waiters, politicians, and…clowns. Pediatricians frequently wear bow ties since infants cannot grab them the way they could grab a conventional necktie.

 

Bow ties do not get soiled or accidentally or deliberately, strangle the wearer. Classical musicians traditionally perform in white tie or black tie ensembles, of which both designs are bow ties. Bow ties are also associated with weddings, mainly because of their almost universal inclusion in traditional formal attire.

 

During the 1960s, fat butterfly bow ties were also trendy. Solid earth tone colors were worn for business, while pastels and big geometric prints found their way to more casual and progressive venues. 

A bow tie may seem intimidating to tie for many men. There were and are alternatives: the pre-tied, the clip-on, “Pre-tied” bow ties are ties in which the distinctive bow is sewn onto a band that goes around the neck and clips to secure. The "clip-on" dispenses with the band altogether, instead, clipping straight to the collar.

Clip-On Ties

A clip-on does not go around the neck but clips to the collar points. This applies to both conventional neckties and bowties.

 

Pre-Tied Ties

Wearing a ready-tied bow tie at formal occasions requiring a black or white tie dress code is usually considered a faux pas. They are more commonly found at such occasions, such as high school proms or events at which the participants are unlikely to have had much experience wearing bow ties.

 

Silk scarf Ties

Silk scarf ties were and are a more flamboyant choice for creative and theatrical types.

Neckties of all sorts have always found a place at work, on stage, or at more formal events. The 1960s ushered in a much more casual “do your own thing” attitude, which left neckwear literally “hanging out to dry.”  Not until the 1980s did neckties regain a popular place in a man's wardrobe.