A kipper tie is a type of

necktie A necktie, long tie, or simply a tie, is a cloth article of formal neckwear or office attire worn for decorative or symbolic purposes, resting under a folded shirt collar or knotted at the throat, and usually draped down the chest. On rare o ...

primarily fashionable in Britain in the mid-1960s to late 1970s. The primary characteristics of the kipper tie are its extreme breadth (normally ) and often garish colours and patterns.

Design origin

Wide neckties were fashionable in the 1940s: first among

Zoot suit A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit) is a men's Suit (clothing), suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, wikt:pegged pants, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its ...

ers rebelling against wartime austerity, and later as part of the " Bold Look" worn by World War II veterans returning to civilian life. Ties of this period often featured bright colors and bold prints, including birds, animals, and floral designs like paisley. British comedian Max Miller was well known for wearing suits and wide ties made from the same fabric as aloha shirts. Kipper ties made a comeback among the younger generation during the late 1960s and early 70s as the thin ties and slim fitting Mod suits began to be replaced by the precursors to disco fashion. British fashion designer

Michael Fish Michael Fish (born 27 April 1944) is a British weather forecasting, weather forecaster. From 1974 to 2004, he was a television presenter for BBC Weather. Career Fish was born on 27 April 1944 in Eastbourne, Sussex. Educated at Osmington Sch ...

designed the kipper tie in 1966 in his establishment in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

Revival

Despite the backlash against disco during the early 1980s, thinner kipper ties continued to be worn, often with

double-breasted A double-breasted garment is a coat, jacket, waistcoat, or dress with wide, overlapping front flaps which has on its front two symmetrical columns of buttons; by contrast, a single-breasted item has a narrow overlap and only one column of b ...

"power suits". The end of the 80s saw ultra-thin ties become fashionable, together with 1950s-inspired bolo ties. In the mid-1990s, kipper ties made a comeback due to a resurgence of interest in

1970s fashion Fashion in the 1970s was about individuality. In the early 1970s, ''Vogue'' proclaimed "There are no rules in the fashion game now" due to overproduction flooding the market with cheap synthetic clothing. Common items included mini skirts, bel ...

. These were typically darker and less

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

than those from its heyday. By the 2000s, however, wide ties had become associated with older men, and fell out of favour as skinny ties influenced by

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

and

Mod subculture Mod, from the word ''modernist'', is a subculture that began in late 1950s London and spread throughout Great Britain, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries. It continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and f ...

became fashionable.

Name of the tie

It has alternatively been proposed that the name "kipper tie" is a reference to the extreme breadth of the tie resembling a

kipper A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering wood chips (typically oak). In the United Kin ...

, or a sly reference to the designer, whose last name, Fish, was evocative of a kipper.

Subject of humour

The terminology itself "kipper tie" forms a part of a joke: "Who says Kipper Tie?" to which the

punch line A punch line (also punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people Laughter, laugh. It is the third and final part of the Joke#Telling jokes, typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and th ...

is "A

Brummie Brummie is the associated adjective and demonym of Birmingham, a city of West Midlands in England. It may refer to: * Anything from or related to the city of Birmingham, in particular: ** The people of Birmingham (see also List of people from Bir ...

when you ask him whether he'd like a tea or a coffee!". It makes a joke of the

Brummie dialect The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding area. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring ...

Notes

{{Clothing Neckties Neckwear 1960s fashion 1970s fashion