It originated in England of the great generals and the Duke of Windsor, but it was America that liberalized its use thanks to a cunning ruse. The Regimental tie is the only transverse striped tie with a strong identifying and corporatist meaning, because, originally, its different colors, combinations and thickness of the lines, easily identified the belonging to a particular British regiment, college or sports association, as it is today; for this, according to some purists of men’s clothing, despite its current democratization, its use without a prerequisite of belonging to a civil or military institution is considered tacky, especially in English territory. It is convention to descend the Regimental tie directly from that Old School Tie worn for the first time by members of the Exeter College Regatta Club of Oxford, in the 1880s, who decided to tie the red and black ribbon of their Boater hats around their necks.
In the early 1900s, there was no member of the prestigious colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, sports clubs and British regimental brigades, who did not wear a Regimental tie, building, over the years, a vast repertoire, in terms of color scheme and stripes, of which a complete decalogue is reported in the famous book by James Laver, The Book of Public School Old Boys: University, Navy, Army, Air Force & Club Ties (1968). In the traditional English version, the Regimental tie has a pattern of lines from left to right, or, as is customary to say to recall its military origins, from heart to sword. The Americans, fascinated by that tie with wide red and blue stripes, Dull red & navy, representative of the regiment of the Grenadier Guardias, worn in America by the then Duke of Windsor in his famous trip in 1919, took its shape. However, the Americanized version of the Regimental tie, often identified as Repp Stripe Tie, presents the lines in the opposite direction to the English one, from right to left, becoming an iconic piece from 1902 and head symbol of preppy style sported by students of the Ivy League along with loafers penny loafer, socks bright colors, shirts button-down and blazer in blue cloth single-breasted. The Regimental, like the striped ties in general, are distinguished mainly based on size of the bands and on colour combinations: from ribbon ones with regular spacing of the lines, which can be wide or thin, with wide bands interspersed with narrow stripes, to those with unusual motifs like zig-zag lines, present on Royal Artillery, Honorable Artillery Company and Fleet Air Arm ties, often worn by Prince Charles, which is a habit of wearing skilfully matched Regimental ties, together with his two sons William and Harry.
Even if today it is possible to wear a Regimental tie without particular restrictions, it is always good to keep in mind that it is not just decorative lines, they evoke in each single band the ideals and values of entire generations, for which they were fought bloody wars, intellectual and sporting struggles. The colours of some of the best known models are the same ones that are flaunted in the skies by the Royal Air Force, in the sea from the Royal Navy and on the ground by the numerous chosen bodies and special weapons of the British armed forces. In order to don’t fall into unpleasant misunderstandings, but, above all, to respect its high value, you can always opt for an American Repp Tie or a striped tie that has no connection with regimental ones, such as the Italian ones, which present a variation in intensity of the lines in terms of dimensions.
Apart from the fascinating history of the Regimental, the striped tie is a must of the men’s elegance, with high potential of expressiveness and versatility, ideal to wear in work contexts, or inspired by the aforementioned preppy style, avoiding too formal occasions. The fabrics to be preferred for this type of tie are jacquard or shantung silk and, for the cold season, the grenadine wool, in the shades of bottle green, cherry red, mustard yellow and blue, paying particular attention to ensure that all colours, as well as the spacing and the dimensions of the different suit patterns, are harmonious. The solid colour is always a good starting point, both for the suit and the shirt. Suits with patterns like Prince of Wales, pinstripes and houndstooth require supreme skill in avoiding to falling into tawdry effect.
Wondering if it is possible to wear a Regimental tie without being part of any British system is an enigma from which many debates are discerned; it is a question of choice, but above all of awareness towards a solid symbolism that can be worn without fear and ambiguity only by those who actually possess the requisites. It can be said that the beauty and prestige that differentiates a Regimental tie from a simple tie is due to the fact that it is nothing more than the direct consequence of that natural instinct of man to celebrate the combative, patriotic and aggregation spirit, inventing from time to time new banners in which to identify and to be handed down over the centuries; the same feeling that brought to life other garments like boating blazers or cufflinks with regimental motifs and noble coats of arms.
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