A striped bow tie falls into the party slot, especially if you co-ordinate it with a two-piece suit and a nice, small-patterned Tattersall shirt. If you like wearing bow ties, but prefer to be perceived as well-dressed rather than dressed-up, it's a good idea to pattern match as well as colour match. The way to do that is to consider pattern types as well as pattern sizes. The further from your body, the bigger pattern. So for example, a suit with a large pattern, a small-patterned shirt (different pattern from the suit), and a solid tie. Muster your courage, get experimenting, and never fear failure – many failures is the key to success.
