Wearing a tie hanging outside a waistcoat or jacket?

May 20, 2020 3:38 AM

Was this a fad or part of a specific style in the UK between the First and Second World Wars?

I recently noticed this on the character Agamemnon Baker in the game Vampyr and would have attributed it to a weird affectation or error on the part of the developers, but not long after, I saw the same thing on the character Swinburne played by Bruce Forsyth in the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks (note that it hasn't simply fallen out in that scene, but starts out that way). Seeing as the game and the film were produced almost 50 years apart and are both set in London at relatively close points in time (1918 and 1940, respectively), it seems likely that there’s some actual precedent for this.

Swinburne is clearly a spiv and I could imagine this being to better show off the loud ties that were part of the wide-boy look, especially when waistcoats were more commonly worn, but I couldn’t find any corroborating evidence.

posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (2 answers total)

I don't know whether this was part of a specific fashion trend or not, but in reading up on 20C male fashion icons a few years ago, there were several instances where I saw something similar: tie outside vest or sweater, watch on top of shirt or sweater, etc. I attributed it to the look of specific individuals, rather than movements.

I think Alan Flusser's book Dressing the Man has a number of similar photos.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:26 AM on May 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It's a reaction to wartime (WWII) and post war rationing – the mark of a spiv or 'wide boy' (the term refers to the breadth of his lapels, showing so much cloth that he must have obtained it on the black market.

Here's the comic actor Arthur English, in a costume that sends up the style, in 1950.
posted by MinPin at 10:40 AM on May 20, 2020 [2 favorites]