SEC athletes getting grip on wearing bow ties

South Carolina linebacker Skai Moore was resplendent in a white jacket and pastel bow tie at SEC Media Days, but he deflected credit.

“I am not even going to lie to y’all and say I tied it,” he joked. He said his mother tied it for him.

Moore is one of several athletes who have switched to the bow tie look – whether or not they’re actually doing the tying.

“I just wanted to make a little statement but nothing too major, just so you could notice me,” Moore, a 227-pound Florida native, said. “They were telling me that some dude came in with a plaid suit a few years ago. That’s not something I would do.

“I’ve always worn a bow tie. I just prefer the look. I just like how it looks, a little bit more stylish.”

Moore was one of several SEC star players wearing bow ties at Media Days last week, which also included LSU running back Leonard Fournette, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson and Florida defensive back Vernon Hargreaves.

Lucky Levinson, who has worked at Columbia’s Brittons for 42 years, said former pro athletes who are now sportscasters on ESPN and other networks have helped spread the trend.

“They have people on the show that are athletes and I think today a lot of athletes are concerned not only with their play but their appearance,” Levinson said.

“Bow ties have kind of gained hold in the fashion world, and just like the rest of us, athletes kind of see that.”

Brittons has seen its bow tie business “explode,” and USC athletes have played into that. Managers Perry Lancaster and Levinson stock custom-made USC-centered bow ties that are unique to Columbia and have seen them rise from a Southern-based style to a national trend.

Hordes of male students flock to the shop before the Carolina Cup, wanting to buy a bow tie to impress their dates.

Ten of the 42 players at SEC Media Days wore a bow tie. USC student intern Grayson Austin had to help other SEC players tie their bow ties at the 2013 Media Days, while former basketball player Aleighsa Welch – who wore her own bow tie – helped tie her fellow athletes’ bow ties at the Gamecock Gala.

It’s become popular to wear a bow tie, and Columbia’s had a hand in it. On Feb. 9, 2014, Columbia entered the Guinness Book of World Records by having 823 people tie bow ties at once. They did it to benefit the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital and Dance Marathon. It’s the only world record ever attempted and completed in Columbia.

“Dr. Andrew Sorensen, he brought a total surge of bow ties when he was here,” Lancaster said of USC’s former president, who died in 2011. “I sent him a bow tie when he was named president, and he bought his bow ties exclusively from us. It’s a great social, Southern thing. I have middle-school boys shopping here, from a 12-year-old to a 90-year-old.”

Easy enough to purchase, but who ties the ties?

Brittons chips in to the bow tie cause after the sale. The Columbia Visitor’s Bureau posted a YouTube video of Levinson tying a bow tie. It has received over 3.1 million views.

“They think it’s difficult, but it’s not,” Levinson said. “When you have kids and buy these toys, you never want to look at the directions, you just start putting the thing together. Same thing when you see a written set of instructions on how to tie a bow tie.

“The way I do it on a YouTube video makes it easy to follow. Once you get the hang of it, it’s as easy as tying a shoelace.”