Last week I attended the seminar series event in which we learned how to tie various ties. Coming into the seminar, I knew how to tie a standard tie, but what I didn’t know (and was always interesting in learning about) was how to tie a bow tie. First we discussed what was appropriate attire for various events, for example interviews or cocktail hours. One aspect about attire that stood out to me was the difference between the genders. After the presentation, i see why women might take so long to get ready. There are a lot of critical decisions that have to be made in order to meet the dress code for a given event. Guys have sort of a standard base in which they can base their outfit on (shirt and pants) while women, have to decide on whether or not a skirt is appropriate or what about a jacket, etc. Also, for guys it is easy to dress for events because we can always remove a tie or take off our jacket. If a woman picks the wrong piece of clothing, game over.

Because of this seminar, I have a new respect for people who wear bow-ties. Before this seminar, I always thought that people who wore a bow-tie were trying harder than they had too and that the bow-tie gave off a sense of a sense of arrogance like “Look at me, I’m wearing a bow-tie, I’m smarter than you.” After attempting to tie a bow-tie, there may be something to the arrogance. It is really hard to tie a bow-tie. Granted we didn’t have mirrors, but just trying to follow from the step-by-step instructions and even with help from Ty, it was tough.

Also, it was interesting to learn about the different variations of business casual. At my old school, business casual always meant jacket with tie optional depending on what the occasion was. In the seminar, there was a photo ranging from a guy wearing a polo and jeans to a guy with a sweater, jacket and tie all representing business casual. Regardless I definitely came out of that lecture with a better understanding of how to dress for success.