National Bow Tie Day Style Guide: Cufflinks, Lapel Pins & Tie Bars
What goes with a bow tie? Cufflinks and a lapel pin, mainly. Cufflinks with a bow tie are the two bow tie accessories that pull real weight on National Bow Tie Day, celebrated every August 28.
Does a tie bar belong in that lineup too? Not on the bow tie itself. That part trips a lot of people up, so it's worth clearing first.
Three Looks at a Glance
|
Setting |
Cufflinks |
Extra Piece |
|
Office |
None needed |
|
|
Semi-Formal |
Match stone to bow tie trim |
|
|
Black Tie |
Gun Initial Lapel Pin |
A Bow Tie Doesn't Take a Tie Bar
Does a tie bar work with a bow tie? No. A tie bar clips onto the blade of a long necktie, sliding across the fabric and the shirt placket underneath it.
A bow tie has no blade to slide onto. Tie clips are built for neckties, not bow ties, and get left off entirely once a bow tie is in the picture.
If you're looking for another small metal accent with a bow tie, cufflinks or a lapel pin are the better choices. Both add the same small metal detail near the collar that a tie bar would add on a regular day, just without needing fabric to clip onto.
A tie bar still has a place today. Just not on the bow tie. More on that further down.
The Office Bow Tie Look
Most office bow tie days stay casual, a group photo, a team lunch, nothing close to black tie.
The HAWSON Initial Button Cover Cufflinks for Men match that register.
They snap over an existing shirt button instead of needing a French cuff, so whatever dress shirt is already in the closet works without a special trip to buy one.
One initial, gold tone, on in three seconds. Wear it under a plain navy or burgundy bow tie and nothing else needs to compete for attention on the shirt.
Does the initial need to match anything else in the outfit? No. It's a personal detail, not a coordinated one, so it can sit on its own even next to a patterned bow tie.
The Semi-Formal Bow Tie Look
A dinner, a gala preview, a wedding as a guest rather than the groom, calls for a different bow tie than the office version.
The Round Gemstone Cufflinks and Tuxedo Studs Set sits in exactly that gap.
Dressier than a button cover, short of full black tie, which is a big part of why it's the set that gets worn most often out of the three here.
Match the stone tone to the bow tie's trim, not the whole tie. A black bow tie with a thin silver edge pairs cleanly with the set's silver tone, no more matching required than that.
The studs matter here too, not just the cufflinks. A French cuff shirt with matching studs down the placket reads as one coordinated piece instead of two accessories that happened to end up on the same shirt.
The Black-Tie Bow Tie Look
A true black-tie bow tie, the kind worn with a tuxedo, needs more shine than either look above. This is the formal bow tie accessories territory, built for one specific dress code.
The HAWSON Crystal Cufflinks and Studs Set carries genuine Swarovski crystal, which catches evening light in a way a plain metal cufflink can't.
Add the HAWSON Gun Initial Lapel Pin for Men on the lapel itself, not the cuff. A lapel pin with a bow tie reads as a deliberate extra rather than an accident, and it's the one piece in this look that isn't a cufflink.
Too much metal for one outfit? Not for black tie. The whole point of that dress code is a bit more shine than an ordinary evening allows, and a lapel pin plus a crystal cufflink set is well inside that range.
If You're Swapping to a Necktie Later
Some offices treat National Bow Tie Day as a morning thing only, bow tie for the group photo, standard tie back on by the afternoon meeting.
That's where a tie bar belongs, on the second tie, not the first. The 2 Inch Cross Tie Bar-Skinny Tie Clip is built for exactly that switch, small enough to carry in a jacket pocket without adding any real weight.
Keep it in a jacket pocket in the morning. Swap ties at lunch, clip it between the third and fourth shirt button, and the afternoon look is sorted in under a minute.
Does the tie bar need to match the morning's cufflinks? Not strictly. Same metal tone reads cleanest, but a jacket covers most of the gap between the two anyway.
Quick Pairing Cheat Sheet
● Office bow tie: button cover cufflinks, one metal tone, no lapel pin needed
● Semi-formal bow tie: gemstone cufflinks and studs, tone matched to the bow tie's trim
● Black-tie bow tie: crystal cufflinks and studs plus a lapel pin on the lapel
● Second necktie later in the day: a short tie bar, clipped between the third and fourth button
● Any look: no tie bar directly on the bow tie itself
Where the Bow Tie Started
The bow tie traces back to Croatian mercenaries during the 17th-century Prussian wars, who wore a scarf at the neck to hold their shirts closed. The name "cravat" comes straight from the French word for Croat.
Worth knowing on August 28 specifically, since it's the one day built around the accessory's own backstory rather than an event that happens to call for one.
None of that changes what to wear with it, though. Cufflinks and a lapel pin still do the actual job, whichever bow tie ends up on the shirt.
Browse the full HAWSON accessory collection for more pieces to build out the rest of the wardrobe.