The Ascot Tie Is the Choice That Marks You as Confidently Different
Wearing an ascot tie today draws from its aristocratic past to express confidence and a sense of style shaped by history and intent.
The party isn’t formal, nor is it trying to be. It’s one of those early summer evenings where the air moves like linen and the windows are thrown open just enough to let in the smell of the garden.
There’s laughter from the kitchen. A bottle of Barolo is being opened somewhere near the stairs. You’re handed a glass of something white and dry, and someone gestures you toward the study, a low-lit room with old records, architectural books stacked in columns, and a few guests talking in pairs.
And there he is. Not performing, just talking. A man in his fifties, maybe early sixties. He’s not overdressed, just better dressed. Loafers that have lived a life. A navy cotton jacket, unstructured. And at his neck, an ascot tie, casually knotted beneath a soft white shirt. He doesn’t draw attention to it, but he doesn’t have to. It draws the eye precisely because no one else is wearing one.
We catch a line of the conversation. Someone has asked about his ascot.
He smiles, almost like he was waiting for someone to ask.
“Strictly speaking,” he begins, “this would’ve been called a cravat or a day tie in the 19th century.
