Why was Bloomberg wearing a blue bow tie at a black tie affair?

[SamCooke]

I'm sure there is some reason for it

[Kitty Herder]

1. Maybe he spilled mustard on his black one? nt

[SamCooke]

2. what does nt mean?

[cali]

3. no text in the body of the post, just the title line.

[Captain Hilts]

4. 'Black tie' doesn't dictate that tie be black. Just a bow tie. People do wear colors. nt

[TahitiNut]

5. It really doesn't dictate a bow tie, either. It's a euphemism for "Semi-Formal."

Yes ... SEMI-formal. In the arcane heights of 'social' dress codes, FORMAL wear is jackets with tails (morning coats) for men and a vest (NOT cummerbund), usually with the traditional white bow tie. (Some insist that the white tie be worn in summer and black tie in winter.) The corresponding military attire is "full dress." In this rarefied height of dress, a jacket WITHOUT tails and a cummerbund is SEMI-formal.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Black tie does mean bow tie. It's VERY recent that guys feel they can wear a black suit

with a black tie. They look like they're going to funerals. Brad Pitt, etc. have started doing this. But black tie at the Academy Awards was always bow tie just as it was at other formal events. The clue is what the woman is wearing. If a woman is in a long gown, you should be in a bow tie.

I have dad's full dress, cumberbunds, white gloves, etc. That uniform had no pockets, so mom's beaded bags would bulge with his glasses, care keys, wallet, etc. It was an argument at every submarine birthday ball, etc.

[TahitiNut]

10. Again, the shorthand idioms of "black tie" and "white tie" DON'T specifically dictate a bow tie ...

... and are NOT limmited to the kind of tie at all. They are originally synecdoches to describe SEMI-formal and FORMAL respectively and stem from 19th century fashions. It must be noted that the four-in-hand tie (the longer necktie) came into use in the mid-19th century and was strictly associated with SPORTING attire. (Indeed, the school colors/patterns derive from that time.)

In the "dress codes" of that day, a PART of the prescribed attire was a bow tie of a specific color BUT the euphemism of making reference ONLY to the tie to mean the entire dress code has lost any SPECIFIC prescription for the tie itself.

[Captain Hilts]

12. Yes, in the past 20 years it has lost its specificity to tie form.

I think that if a woman is in a long dress, then a man should be in a bow tie.

That's just my take.

[TahitiNut]

13. Once upon a time ...

... (back in 1961) I entered the Coast Guard Academy in July ... and the summer ("Swab Summer") before classes started was dedicated to the basics of both "social etiquette" and basic military life. I got FILLED (above the eyebrows) with the "social graces" ... including all forms of ballroom dancing (dance classes!), formal and semi-formal attire, courtesy cards and their codes, and the vast array of table settings ... as well as other minutiae. (It's hard to describe to folks neither old enough to recall the "50s" nor having first-hand experience with military academy activities.) We had books and classes and drills and God-knows-all-what as we were saturated with the "Social Protocols" that rubes and working class hoi polloi weren't expected to know. After all, we had to be transformed into officers and GENTLEMEN ... and they were serious about it.

I got indoctrinated ... thoroughly ... and I'll never forget the crap that was stuffed into my skull those days.

[Captain Hilts]

15. Yep. You had to wear gloves at dances and probably got dressed up

to go to athletic events, such as wrestling and basketball just like my folks did at USNA in '61!

A lot of the rules were perfectly silly. I know that coffee is 'superior' to tea, so for dog's sake, don't ask the admiral's wife to pour tea and all that crap. But a lot of it provides a good default to start out from. People have NO manners nowadays. Informality is good, bad manners is not and folks get these things confused.

GWB visiting QEII at the Buck House had NO manners whatsoever. He took his own chef and trashed her late mother's rose garden. MoBama was less formal with Liz, but more sensitive and effective. There you go. King George and Queen Mum appreciated the informality of the Roosevelts. Informality - good. Bad manners - bad.

I'm just touchy about some of these things because, as a kid of 49.5 yrs old, I remember seeing folks out on dates and the woman would be in a dress, stockings and high heels, and her date would be in jeans and an Izod shirt.

Now, on TV news it's the other way around - women are wearing casual sweaters and the men are in dark business suits that could take them to a post-work cocktail party.

I won't stand in the same room with any USN-type that makes sport of the Coasties. Coasties head out when everybody else is heading in or going deep.

[TahitiNut]

16. The academy dress code was very specific and very nuanced.

We had full dress uniforms as well as blues and khakis and whites and dixie-cup and dungarees and so on. White gloves were standard with both blues (in review) and full dress (formal dances). Yes, blues were required for all sporting events, 'semiformal' dances, liberty, etc. The arcane origins of such dress codes were also drilled into us.

Despite leaving the USCGA at the two-year mark, I remain VERY respectful of that service. The Search and Rescue function of the Coast Guard is performed peerlessly ... there are NONE better in the world. Seamanship is mastered by those people -- experts in relatively small boats under conditions that have other mariners running for cover. They're awesome.

I'll never forget our return from the Summer Training Cruise in 1962 and being overtaken by a full gale off Cape Hatteras ... in the USCGC Eagle, UNDER SAIL. We set a speed record that will never be surpassed. It was AMAZING. The starboard side was awash, over the gunwhales on a ship with a usual 12' freeboard. We had to rig lifelines amidships to keep from being washed overboard. Not a single person was lost. I have NEVER had a more thrilling 'ride' in my life! That White Bitch (sorry, ladies, but that's how we fondly referred to her) did us proud ... an unbelievable performance. We blew the mainsail -- and cleared the debris -- but everything kept on working. The helmsmen (FOUR of them) did us proud, too.

[Captain Hilts]

17. I've not doubt EAGLE earned its nickname!

I'm insanely jealous.

When I come to power the USCG will go back to USN-style uniforms with their own classic insignia and I'll give those blue, airline-pilot style things to the US National Health Service.

Victor Mature as a Coastie:

[Stevenmarc]

6. Because when you are one of the richest guys in the room you let your stylist pick out the tie.

[Captain Hilts]

8. He's from Boston and is the mayor of NYC, so it must be fashionable!

What the hell, a lot of folks wonder what side of the plate Bloomie bats from anyway.

Go Bloomie!

[billyoc]

9. "I'm richer than all of you by an order of magnitude".

[Marr]

11. Maybe he likes blue ties?

[realisticphish]

14. he's a LOOSE CANNON who PLAYS BY HIS OWN RULES nt