<p>We just paid for our son’s senior pictures. He owns his own tuxedo and wore that for his formal school picture. It has a long black tie with the longish collar on the tuxedo shirt and a black vest so you don’t actually see the ruffles or studs (although he had those). The photographer never said anything, but as we were wrapping up the order from the proofs today, the secretary commented that she hadn’t seen a long tie used for the senior picture before and it looked like he was just wearing a regular suit. That made me nervous, so when I got home I looked at the yearbook for our high school for the past few years and sure enough there isn’t a single long tie! </p>
<p>At prom for the past few years, it seemed like 80% of the kids wore long ties and 20% bow ties. I remember this being a big point of discussion several years ago with our older son. He wore his father’s tuxedo because they are the same size, but insisted on getting a long tie and vest because bow ties were out of fashion for the younger kids. He did, however, wear the bow tie for his senior picture because H was sentimental. For S2, it didn’t occur to me because H’s shirt with the pointy collar wouldn’t fit S2’s neck, so a bow tie didn’t even seem like a viable option. </p>
<p>The school directions simply specify that the child must be wearing a tuxedo. S2 says he doesn’t care, but I hate to have our son be the ONLY kid in a class of several hundred wearing something different. I also hate to have the pictures retaken. They aren’t cheap. I called the school and the office left a message with the year book editor/advisor to get his thoughts, but it may be a few days before we hear back.</p>
<p>Has anybody (hopefully) worn a long tie with their tux for their senior picture? Perhaps we can just consider ourselves early adapters.</p>
<p>From “Clothes and the Man,” by Alan Flusser:</p>
<p>“The formal tie is, of course, a bow tie. It should never be of the clip-on, pre-tied variety, since, as a practical matter, if one is wearing a wing collar, the clip will be well within view. Aesthetically, a hand-tied bow tie is always more elegant.” </p>
<p>It is proper to wear a bow tie, not a long tie, with a tuxedo. In that regard, your son broke an old rule of formal wear. Whether you want to adhere to old styles of dress is obviously completely up to you. But in terms of strict fashion rules, it’s incorrect to wear a necktie with a tuxedo.</p>
<p>It probably won’t matter to most people. Maybe they’ll be like, “Oh,” but there is no fashion police and your house will not get blown up by angry bow tie lovers.</p>
<p>If they strongly suggest you retake the pictures, I would consider that. If they don’t care or don’t get back to you, it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t retake them. But black tie usually demands a bow tie.</p>
<p>I’m actually a rising senior, so I probably shouldn’t even respond. But I love dressing up in my dinner jacket, so I thought that I would share that…</p>
<p>I’d say if they are good picture of his face, leave well enough alone. We could take a vote, but I for one couldn’t care less what sort of tie he has on. In a few years, everyone else will look old-fashioned except him!</p>
<p>No one here wears a tux or a suit for senior portraits. They are all casual. Some kids wear their sports jerseys. Some of the pictures are terrific, they really look like the kids look in real life - only better, thanks to the miracles of “touchup”, ha ha.</p>
<p>When I went to high school in the 70’s, the guys wore black tuxes with bow ties; the gals wore some filmy, lacy thing across our shoulders. </p>
<p>Nowadays, the kids take 2 or 3 changes of clothes to the senior photog studio and then get to choose which pose goes into the yearbook. So you can see photos of kids in letterman’s jackets or holding their musical instrument or whatever. Most wear casual clothes, some wear a suit and tie, none wear a tux. No two persons wear the same thing, but you can definitely see the same pose used over and over again.</p>
<p>It’s all tastefully done and I like it. So much better than that lacy thing…</p>
<p>My daughter just had hers done. The boys wear a tux with a bow tie, all standard issue from the photographer. The girls wear the off the shoulder black drape thing. Those are always the yearbook pictures. Additional cap and gown shots and and outfit of choice shots are taken and are available for purchase but are not used in the yearbook. Obviously it varies by the school. I’d let your son decide if he cares if his is different.</p>
<p>All the kids at our school wear the bow ties because the photography company furnishes the "tux outfit"for the formal shots (which are the only kind allowed in the yearbook) and the kids bring along their own casual clothes for the others. </p>
<p>So bowtie in the yearbook is the norm but I have seen a few in suits when the school pics turned out badly and they had them redone elsewhere. If it’s a good pic of your S, don’t worry.</p>
<p>Our boys have to wear a suit and girls wear that stupid black drape over our shoulders. We can “buy” 2 clothing changes, but we still have to use the clothing they provide (unless it’s school attire, ie Letterman’s jacket). And only the suit/drape pictures can go in the yearbook.</p>
<p>Almost all the boys here wear long ties. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy do a senior portrait with a bow tie here.</p>
<p>My sister and I got lucky because my mom has a close friend that is a photographer in Indiana, and was willing to fly out for our senior portraits. We got to wear “normal” clothes (jeans and a nice top), and we went to some beautiful locations in our town. The best part was that you could tell we were very comfortable…most of the shots we’re either sitting on the ground or leaning against something, and there are even some where we’re flat-out laughing because we’re very close with the woman who took the pictures. </p>
<p>Upon seeing them my friends were just like, “Wow! Can she do mine too?” And of course, mom loves the fact that she only charges us what the lab costs her to develop the shots.</p>
<p>I never even bought any of the pics that my school shot.</p>
<p>Interesting how differently it is done in different places. You have to go to your own photographer here. The school only does pictures for k-11. At the photographer we used, you do bring several outfits (four is the standard with more costing extra) and get lots of pictures both inside and out as well as the official yearbook picture. The photographer has a standard issue tuxedo, but it didn’t occur to us to use it, assuming it wouldn’t fit as nicely as his own. All the girls in the yearbook are in that black drapey thing for the official picture. Parents can also purchase another page or half page and put casual pictures of their child in the yearbook as well, with little comments.</p>
<p>The picture is marvelous and S2 doesn’t care, so we won’t change it unless the yearbook guy insists.</p>
<p>Son’s school provided the tux front including bow tie for senior pictures . That’s what I think everyone used. But at the prom this year, I too noticed a lot of straight ties rather than the bow tie with the tux, and my son chose the long tie. I don’t think it’ll be a big deal. He can stand out that way without it being too “out there”. Would not worry about it.</p>
<p>My son wouldn’t be caught wearing a bow tie and he had to wear a tie everyday to class.
He was just a groomsman in a formal wedding and they wore a long tie.</p>
<p>If the pictures look fine, I wouldn’t worry about it. In a few years everyone looks back at their yearbook picture and wonders, why did I wear that??</p>
<p>Yikes- are your schools ever formal. Son wore a long sleeved shirt and tie per our request, many seniors were very casual in their apparel. Why does the school need to have everyone in clothes they wouldn’t otherwise wear at school? This is the student’s memory book, by and for students. They had a requirement for a head shot with dimensions only, logical for being able to see faces with the size in the yearbook. The local studios had suggestions for colors, etc for a good photo.</p>
<p>Our high school yearbook has girls in the drapy thing and boys in fake tuxes. I hate it. I wouldn’t worry about it, he’ll probably look better than the other kids. One advantage of going to a small private school was that each girl got an entire page in the yearbook to design how she liked. (Though when a girl one year just put in a photo she had taken of an old woman they made a rule that the page had to include a picture of yourself.)</p>
<p>I think the request for uniform images for the yearbook is so everyone’s face is the same size and the images are uniformly exposed. Makes it easier for the staff, especially in a large school where there are 20 or 30 seniors on each page.<br>
One thought - if you and he decide the bow tie is important, ask the studio if they can photoshop it in. Seems like that could be done pretty easily, since the yearbook photo will be relatively small. Emphasize that the photographer should have mentioned to your son that his school always does it the other way.
The long tie with formal wear seems to be a newer thing, so if he decides to let it go, maybe 10 years from now he’ll be seen as a trendsetter!</p>