THE JOURNAL
From left to right: Mr Lee Pace attends the Thom Browne womenswear SS23 show at Paris Fashion Week, 3 October 2022; photograph by Mr Pierre Suu/Getty Images. Mr Hector Bellerín at the GQ Men of the Year Awards, Madrid, 17 November 2022; photograph by Mr Atilano Garcia/Shutterstock. Tyler, the Creator in Los Angeles, 11 January 2023; photograph by Getty Images. Mr Tyler Posey attends the Teen Wolf premiere in Los Angeles, 18 January 2023; photograph by Mr Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Paramount+
In the formative days of MR PORTER, we seemed to spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about ties. Which tie for which occasion, how to tie them, which accessories to accessorise this accessory with. Really. It was the early 2010s and, trussed up under the heady influence of Mad Men and Mr Tom Ford, men were expected not only to know what a tie pin was, but also what to do with one. It added up to a lot of words about a relatively slender strip of fabric.
Then, seemingly overnight, the tie disappeared. Workplaces woke up, dress codes moved on and the “air tie” became just what it always was – a done-up shirt. When world leaders gathered for the G7 summit last summer, other than the glaringly obvious fact that they were all men, and predominantly white men to boot, what was noticeable was a total absence of ties. Even Tom Ford has leaned into this casual paradigm shift. Although, as the industrious designer could tell you, leisure really is the ultimate luxury.
As MR PORTER reported at the time, fashion abhors a vacuum and clothing that the mainstream world deems surplus to requirements is catnip to the sartorial rebels among us. And so, you can set your watch (an obscure Cartier grail, no doubt) by Tyler, the Creator, who was recently seen stepping out with a skinny leopard-print number alongside his trademark trapper hat and cheeky grin. Or the trendsetting actor (and MR PORTER cover star) Mr Lee Pace, who turned up to Thom Browne’s SS23 womenswear show last October seemingly cosplaying the AC/DC guitarist Mr Angus Young.
“I think the way formal dress codes are becoming increasingly irrelevant is making [ties] a fashion quirk,” says Ms Lauren Cochrane, senior fashion writer at The Guardian and author of The Ten: The Stories Behind The Fashion Classics. Irony, clearly, comes into play. “But also these items being reassessed in a post-Silicon Valley world,” she says. “Ties now can be seen as – almost – a relic of the past and that’s why people such as Tyler like them. They’re a curiosity. It’s corpcore.”
If you want to stick your neck out and embrace the trend, we could point you in the direction of MR PORTER’s comprehensive guide to ties from what might be best classified as “before times”. However, if in 2023 you’re asking how to wear a tie, you are more likely to be talking about vibe shifts than anything to do with particular knots.
“To wear one in a smart-casual way, I think you have to be careful not to look too costume-party Don Draper or indie sleaze band member,” Cochrane says. “Knitted ties look good, with plain shirts not tucked in and maybe loose-ish jeans or trousers. Think of them as another accessory, rather than the statement piece.”
In short, something to tie a banging look together.
The people featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown