Growing up, it was just my mother, my younger sister, and me. My mother was a lawyer, very prim and proper, usually in very conservative skirted suits, and tried to ensure that my sister and I were just as prim and proper. No problem with me. I was in a Catholic high school where the guys had to wear dress shirts, dress pants, dress shoes, and ties daily. I took the opportunity to wear bow ties - only bow ties-from the first day of high school onward, and whenever I could come up with the slightest excuse I wore suits along with my bow ties. My sister, a year or so younger than me, wore a plaid uniform with a starched white blouse. She was a little more rebellious by nature than I was, but she came through when she had to.
A week or so before the start of my freshman year, my mother took me shopping for my school clothes. Up until now, I'd been in uniforms all through Catholic grade school, which included a mandatory necktie. We'd gotten a few pairs of slacks, navy blue and dark grey, and dress shirts, white, except for one in powder blue, all of them longsleeved. She decided I needed suits as well. I couldn't be happier. So we got three suits, all three-piece, in navy blue, a dark charcoal grey, and black.
"Okay," my mother said, looking through a rack of neckties, "you need ties."
"I want bow ties," I said.
"Bow ties?" she repeated, seeming a little surprised. "What about neckties? Don't you want a few of these?"
"Nope," I replied, "only bow ties."
My mother, while mildly surprised, couldn't have been happier. She was very prim and proper about her own attire, and now her son was, of his own volition, wanting to be dressing up at a higher level than one would normally expect of a kid that age? She certainly wasn't going to argue.
So, we found a store that sold bow ties, not the cheap clip-ons or the pretied bow ties. It was a men's shop that sold the kind you had to tie yourself. We started out buying five. One was a maroon background pattern. There was one that had a kind of teal green background. Three were various degrees of navy blue patterns. One of these, my favorite, was almost entirely navy blue, kind of a navy blue on navy blue pattern, like a bit of a texture to it.
So school started, and I was quickly labeled "the kid in the bow tie." I didn't mind the distinction. Besides being in a bow tie every day, I was forever in search of the slightest half-an-excuse to wear a suit to school as often as possible. I quickly found myself on the chess and debate teams, in part because tournament or debate days, whether at our school or travelling to another school, required wearing a suit for the occasion. Montly we had a school-wide Mass, for which jackets were required. Also each month each of the four grades had their own Mass day, again jackets required. Then, of course, there were the cooler months during which wearing a suit was actually a good way of keeping warm. So overall, I either found or made my own opportunities to be fully suited, buttoned-up, and bow tied.
It wasn't too far into the school year, maybe the second weekend, that Sunday morning had me coming downstairs all suited, buttoned-up, and bow tied, ready to leave for Mass.
"What are you all dressed up for?" my mother asked.
"Shouldn't church be something we dress up for?" I asked.
"You're absolutely right," my mother said and thinking about it for a second. A few minutes later, she was in one of her suits, and she'd told my sister to put on a nice dress, which her slightly rebellious nature resulted in her whining opposition. It wasn't lost on me, however, that despite her complaints, after we'd arrived home from church she stayed in her modest "churchy" dress the rest of the day. I, of course, remained suited, buttoned-up, and bow tied the entire day.
Before we went home that day, however, we stopped at my aunt's house. For more than an hour my bow tie and I were the object of some fervent oooing and ahhhhing by my aunt and two of my cousins.
So my bow tied status was firmly established on weekdays and Sundays. That still left Saturdays. One Saturday in October of my freshman year, my mother was taking my sister and a couple of friends of her's, including this cute redhead named Pam, who I had a bit of a crush on, on an all-day trip, something connected with some club at school the girls were involved in. I got up right before they left. It was one of those nice, cool, cloudy autumn days. Right after they left, I took a shower. I dried off and got back to my room and something popped into my head. Why not? I thought to myself.
Within a few minutes I was in one of my three-piece suits and a bow tie, however, it wasn't long before I'd taken off my jacket. I spent the day doing homework and studying, watching some football, and getting a little housework done. In the middle of the afternoon I walked to the mailbox at the end of the driveway to check the mail. Since it was a bit chilly, I slipped on my suit jacket and buttoned it, then headed out to the mailbox. As I pulled a handful of envelopes out of the mailbox, a voice called out behind me.
"My, aren't you all handsome and dressed up!" the voice chimed.
I turned around to see the neighbor from next door. She was probably in her thirties and from what I'd heard my mother say she was a college professor of some sort.
"Oh, hi!" I responded, having been taken by surprise. "Thank you very much!"
"I never see you not dressed up," she said, coming over, her own mail under her arm. "And I just love the bow ties! Most of the professors at my college don't dress as nicely as you."
As she was saying this, she was tugging gently on the bow part of my bow tie. I gulped nervously beneath my stiff collar.
"You tied this yourself?" she asked. She apparently expected a clip-on, me being a kid.
"Of course!" I replied.
"It looks so perfect and even that I thought it was one of those clip-ons," she commented. After a little more neighborly small-talk, I went back inside.
So that evening about seven-thirty or so, my mother and sister returned, along with a pizza. Walking in, my mother took a look at me in my suit and bow tie.
"What are you doing all dressed up?" she asked, smiling.
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" I asked.
"No, certainly not!" she replied. "You can dress up like that all you want! What, I'm going to complain that my son wants to be well-dressed in a suit and bow tie?"
So being buttoned-up and bow tied became my natural state, my normalcy. Even my extended family, aunts and cousins mostly, as well as friends of the family, expected me to be in a suit and bow tie. On the very rare occasions that I wasn't I'd be asked about it.
A week or so before the start of my freshman year, my mother took me shopping for my school clothes. Up until now, I'd been in uniforms all through Catholic grade school, which included a mandatory necktie. We'd gotten a few pairs of slacks, navy blue and dark grey, and dress shirts, white, except for one in powder blue, all of them longsleeved. She decided I needed suits as well. I couldn't be happier. So we got three suits, all three-piece, in navy blue, a dark charcoal grey, and black.
"Okay," my mother said, looking through a rack of neckties, "you need ties."
"I want bow ties," I said.
"Bow ties?" she repeated, seeming a little surprised. "What about neckties? Don't you want a few of these?"
"Nope," I replied, "only bow ties."
My mother, while mildly surprised, couldn't have been happier. She was very prim and proper about her own attire, and now her son was, of his own volition, wanting to be dressing up at a higher level than one would normally expect of a kid that age? She certainly wasn't going to argue.
So, we found a store that sold bow ties, not the cheap clip-ons or the pretied bow ties. It was a men's shop that sold the kind you had to tie yourself. We started out buying five. One was a maroon background pattern. There was one that had a kind of teal green background. Three were various degrees of navy blue patterns. One of these, my favorite, was almost entirely navy blue, kind of a navy blue on navy blue pattern, like a bit of a texture to it.
So school started, and I was quickly labeled "the kid in the bow tie." I didn't mind the distinction. Besides being in a bow tie every day, I was forever in search of the slightest half-an-excuse to wear a suit to school as often as possible. I quickly found myself on the chess and debate teams, in part because tournament or debate days, whether at our school or travelling to another school, required wearing a suit for the occasion. Montly we had a school-wide Mass, for which jackets were required. Also each month each of the four grades had their own Mass day, again jackets required. Then, of course, there were the cooler months during which wearing a suit was actually a good way of keeping warm. So overall, I either found or made my own opportunities to be fully suited, buttoned-up, and bow tied.
It wasn't too far into the school year, maybe the second weekend, that Sunday morning had me coming downstairs all suited, buttoned-up, and bow tied, ready to leave for Mass.
"What are you all dressed up for?" my mother asked.
"Shouldn't church be something we dress up for?" I asked.
"You're absolutely right," my mother said and thinking about it for a second. A few minutes later, she was in one of her suits, and she'd told my sister to put on a nice dress, which her slightly rebellious nature resulted in her whining opposition. It wasn't lost on me, however, that despite her complaints, after we'd arrived home from church she stayed in her modest "churchy" dress the rest of the day. I, of course, remained suited, buttoned-up, and bow tied the entire day.
Before we went home that day, however, we stopped at my aunt's house. For more than an hour my bow tie and I were the object of some fervent oooing and ahhhhing by my aunt and two of my cousins.
So my bow tied status was firmly established on weekdays and Sundays. That still left Saturdays. One Saturday in October of my freshman year, my mother was taking my sister and a couple of friends of her's, including this cute redhead named Pam, who I had a bit of a crush on, on an all-day trip, something connected with some club at school the girls were involved in. I got up right before they left. It was one of those nice, cool, cloudy autumn days. Right after they left, I took a shower. I dried off and got back to my room and something popped into my head. Why not? I thought to myself.
Within a few minutes I was in one of my three-piece suits and a bow tie, however, it wasn't long before I'd taken off my jacket. I spent the day doing homework and studying, watching some football, and getting a little housework done. In the middle of the afternoon I walked to the mailbox at the end of the driveway to check the mail. Since it was a bit chilly, I slipped on my suit jacket and buttoned it, then headed out to the mailbox. As I pulled a handful of envelopes out of the mailbox, a voice called out behind me.
"My, aren't you all handsome and dressed up!" the voice chimed.
I turned around to see the neighbor from next door. She was probably in her thirties and from what I'd heard my mother say she was a college professor of some sort.
"Oh, hi!" I responded, having been taken by surprise. "Thank you very much!"
"I never see you not dressed up," she said, coming over, her own mail under her arm. "And I just love the bow ties! Most of the professors at my college don't dress as nicely as you."
As she was saying this, she was tugging gently on the bow part of my bow tie. I gulped nervously beneath my stiff collar.
"You tied this yourself?" she asked. She apparently expected a clip-on, me being a kid.
"Of course!" I replied.
"It looks so perfect and even that I thought it was one of those clip-ons," she commented. After a little more neighborly small-talk, I went back inside.
So that evening about seven-thirty or so, my mother and sister returned, along with a pizza. Walking in, my mother took a look at me in my suit and bow tie.
"What are you doing all dressed up?" she asked, smiling.
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" I asked.
"No, certainly not!" she replied. "You can dress up like that all you want! What, I'm going to complain that my son wants to be well-dressed in a suit and bow tie?"
So being buttoned-up and bow tied became my natural state, my normalcy. Even my extended family, aunts and cousins mostly, as well as friends of the family, expected me to be in a suit and bow tie. On the very rare occasions that I wasn't I'd be asked about it.
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