Key to the perfect Inaugural bow tie: Imperfection

Kelly Nickel will likely be keeping her eye on one thing come Inauguration Day — bow ties.

The director of brand, training and development for Brooks Brothers is a bow tie-tying expert of sorts, who regularly gives lessons for the high-end clothing retailer on the finer points of the art of the tied bow tie. “It’s a skill so few people have,” Nickel laments. “I can teach a class of 25 how to tie a bow tie within 10 minutes.”

So when it comes to President Obama’s neckwear, Nickel will be watching: “I do think he ties his own tie.”

But she knows for certain that someone else on the Inaugural stage won’t be in need of her bow tie expertise: “[Vice President] Joe Biden ties his own tie,” Nickel says matter-of-factly.

She says of her experience working at Brooks Brothers, which has outfitted 39 out of 44 American presidents, “And I know that Joe Biden’s son ties his own tie, because Joe Biden used to shop at our King of Prussia store. And I used to be an associate in our Philadelphia store and I used to wait on Beau Biden. So I used to watch him, when he would try on things, I used to watch him retie his tie.”

The key, Nickel explains, is to keep it classy, and maybe just a tad out of place. “When you see the mathematically perfect bow tie under someone’s chin, that’s basically the equivalent of the guy who corrects your grammar at parties. You don’t want that.”

She adds, “You want something with a little bit of verve or panache. You want something that’s a little bit different, a little bit off-kilter, because that’s the guy that’s going to tell you the good jokes. If it’s too perfect, then it’s probably pre-tied.”

Photo: Vithaya Phongsavan for BrandLinkDC