Bow-Tie Fly: Big Boi's Fashion Accessory of Choice

Photos by Evan Bartleson/4 Amoeba Studio

When OutKast started making records back in the mid-’90s, André “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton looked like ordinary dudes. “The budgets weren’t that big at the time,” Big Boi says today. “So a clean pair of socks, flip-flops and tracksuits was the attire.” As OutKast became legendary, their fashion sense grew more ambitious. The duo’s last great album, 2003’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, featured a song called “Bowtie” that summed up the transformation: “Crocodile on my feet / Fox fur on my back / Bow tie ’round my neck / That’s why they call me the gangsta mack.” So when Paste decided to run a spread on bow ties, we knew who to call. “When you have on a bow tie, the bow tie commands respect,” Big Boi says. “And if you got a bow tie on, you gotta be a bad motherfucker to have a bow tie on. Especially if it’s not a clip-on and you tied it yourself.”

We asked Big Boi to pick a handful of his favorite bow ties, and explain why he likes them. After a while, we began to notice a theme.

In the gallery below, Big Boi shows us, step by step, how to tie a bow tie. He also explains four of his favorites.

Click an image to see it full size. To move to the next image, click on the image or use the right arrow key.