Ruche ties?

[DWFII]

Ah, so is it a type of cravat?

The one in your pic looks much better than those represented on the site I linked to; perhaps those had something to do with my immediate distaste for the look.

It is a cravat. A rather old fashioned one.

Isn't that site you linked to the same one with the weird cream coloured, quasi-jacobite jacket and the cream shadow tartan?

'Nuff said!

[Derek Conley]

It is a cravat. A rather old fashioned one.

Isn't that site you linked to the same one with the weird cream coloured, quasi-jacobite jacket and the cream shadow tartan?

'Nuff said!

Ah... there is that, isn't there...

[Carolina Kiltman]

Seems we've been here before.

They are a form of cravat, but the older ones (from my younger days a half century or more back) were smooth when tied. I'm not so sure of this "rumpled" look myself, but they are more formal than the usual four-in-hand for a formal day occasion.

[Tim Little]

Coincidentally, I was looking into these earlier today after coming across this photo:



Doesn't look too bad, IMHO, but I guess might be better suited to an Argyll jacket than a PC (which really begs for a bow tie).

Also, for those of us who haven't been properly schooled in such things (i.e., most of us under 40?) this site gives the low-down on "proper" black tie attire:

http://www.blacktieguide.com/Contemporary/Neckwear.htm

Thought this was particularly interesting:

One of the ways that the English aristocracy used to maintain class distinction was to require clerks to incorrectly combine the formal wing collar with the informal long tie. Today, legions of similarly attired Americans seem oblivious to their resemblance to Edwardian barristers.