I may sound like a broken record, but....

I really mean it when I say I love bow ties! My very good friend Brance is one of the few guys I know who can pull off the bow tie look. So for Christmas this year, I gave him "Bow Ties by Bouche." Basically, a bow tie for each season, handmade by yours truly. Not just ordinary clip-on, solid color bow ties, but really fun prints- I wanted his bow ties to be one of a kind. Last night, Brance was nice enough to model them all for me so I could post them on this blog. First up, "Spring."

This one happens to be my favorite of the four bow ties- the blue is really vibrant (the picture is not doing it justice) and the paisley print is just fun.

Next up, my second favorite, "Summer."

This one is definitely the most colorful of all the bow ties- I like to call it the Amazing Technicolor Bow Tie. Of course pairing it with an apple green shirt only accentuates that! The fabric for this bow tie was actually a horizontal stripe, but I cut the pattern cross-wise so that the stripes would be vertical when the tie was tied.

Third is the "Fall" bow tie, perhaps the most subdued.

And finally, "Winter" which actually looks more like "Christmas" but since Brance is such a huge fan of Christmas, I figured it was an appropriate print.

As you can see, he even paired it with his red "Christmas" sweater. He always says, "That sweater isn't red. It's RED!!!" Now he has a bow tie to coordinate with it.

A lot of guys are intimidated by the idea of having to tie a bow tie, but guess what? It's just like tying your shoe laces. There may be other methods, but the simplest one is to literally treat the bow tie like a shoe lace and tie it the same way. Here is Brance's step-by-step tutorial.

1.) Start with the tie draped around your neck like so:

2.) Cross the right side over the left.

3.) Take the bottom side in your right hand and toss it over the crossed fabric.

4.) Pull the fabric taught.

5.) Fold the right side into a bow shape.

6.) Bring the left side over the top of the folded side.

7.) Pull the left side through the back loop you've created.

8.) Pull the two sides of the bow so that they are symmetrical.

9.) Adjust either side as needed until the tie looks right.

Piece of cake, right? So the next time you rent a tux, make sure to ask for a real bow tie and then impress everyone by tying it yourself.