'I Wore A Tie For The First Time Since School – Here's Why It's Now My Unexpected Wardrobe Staple'
After walking out of my final GCSE exam in 2015, I remember loosening the knot of my suffocating school tie and swinging it above my head. I was free. Free from the nip of a tight top button and the emotional weight of a tie used to restrain me. On that day, I swore I’d never wear one again.
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Fast forward a decade, and I found myself doing the unthinkable: reaching for a tie. Not as a compulsory accessory dictated by my school’s strick dress code (which also included a dowdy grey pencil skirt and shapeless polyester blazer) but as a considered styling choice for London Fashion Week. Given the unmissable uptick of tie wearers among the fashion set, I decided it was high time to give one a try once more.
The tie in question was light blue with diagonal thick stripes – funnily enough, bearing a resemblance to the tie I once begrudgingly wore as part of my teenage uniform. From the latest installment of JW Anderson’s ongoing collaboration with Uniqlo, the tie was the perfect thickness, shade and sheen for my liking. Preppy but not too in your face.
I experimented with a few pairings on the morning of my tie maiden voyage. One look: a pair of tailored shorts, a grey sweater vest and pointed heeled boots. Another featured a mid-length pleated skirt, white socks, loafers and a leather blazer. Eventually, I settled on the most classic pairing of all – a grey oversized wool suit.
Wrapping the tie around my neck and looping its soft fabric into the perfect knot – not too thick and stubby but also not too long and thin – took me right back to the rushed getting-ready-process in the morning before school. But this time, the feeling of formality and finish was welcome.
In all of this, it would be unfair for me not to mention Bella Hadid’s suit and tie at the Saint Laurent show. Hadid’s return to the Paris Fashion Week runway back in October was the moment my interest in the tie reached its peak – and, admittedly, I’ve been thinking about when I would wear one again ever since.
Not only did the show and accompanying campaign featuring Michelle Pfeiffer assert the official return of the tie, it also left me scouring resale sites for the right style, tracing its growing presence on the runway and banking endless tie-styling references.
Rapper Doechii is also largely to thank. Her meteoric rise over the past six months has coincided with the cultivation of a whole new aesthetic. Her fashion evolution has mirrored her artistic growth, and the tie has become a staple piece in her instantly recognisable wardrobe – worn loosely on off-duty days or tightly fastened beneath sharp, structured tailoring.
Back in 2023, Valentino alluded to the accessory’s comeback, hosting a ‘black tie event’ where every single look was paired with a skinny black neckpiece. Sheer shirts, feather-plumed outerwear and sequin-embellished cocktail dresses were all given the same treatment in Pierpaolo Piccioli’s vision for AW23. However, the skinny ties seen on the runway then didn’t quite resonate with me. They felt too Indie Sleaze, too Pete Doherty in a trilby and an ill-fitting suit. It sparked my interest but wasn’t enough to get me wearing one.
Then came Loewe’s AW24 ties, in perfect school stripes and worn with crisp shirts, v-neck jumpers and oversized embellished belts. Hodokova followed suit, presenting upcycled satin ties (you’d likely find in your Dad’s wardrobe) in chocolate brown and classic checks. These new iterations felt fresh and far from the stiff corporate accessory I once associated them with.
I wouldn’t say I’m an overly feminine dresser, but at first, I hesitated to add a tie to my rotation of crisp cotton shirts. It carried too many associations with corporate power dressing – rigid, formal and, dare I say, traditional? But that perception has shifted. Unlike the uniformity of my school days, today’s tie-wearing feels playful and personal.
What was once a symbol of restriction now feels like a tool for outfit reinvention. Whether stolen from one of the men in your life, thrifted from a charity shop or bought from the school uniform section at M&S, a tie can revive an oversized vintage suit or bring a pop of unexpected colours to a no-frills collared shirt.
No longer just a relic of outdated dress codes, the tie has been reclaimed, restyled and reimagined as a new statement piece. And as I glance at my growing collection, I realise one thing: this won’t be the last time I reach for one.
Shop our favourite ties
Re-Nylon Triangle Tie
Textured Pure Silk Tie
Classic Silk Tie
Iphis Silk Tie
Spaced Striped Wool-Blend Tie
Pre-Owned 1990-2000s Silk Tie
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