What do Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo all have in common? Well, yes, they were all nominated for acting awards at the Oscars this year. And yes, they’re all beloved, well-respected actors. But more than any of that, they all went to said awards ceremony, walked its illustrious red carpet wearing various iterations tuxedos and collared dress shirts, and…not a single one of them wore a tie.
And the same went for fellow attendees and presenters Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Sam Rockwell, Chris Hemsworth, and Joseph Quinn. Not a tie, straight nor bow, to be found among them. Why, it appears that the Academy Awards red carpet—arguably one of the most formal places on the planet—seems to have fully ditched one of the most traditional menswear accessories: the humble and beloved necktie.
These tie-agnostic Oscars comes at a funny time, where it’s hard to know what the future of the tie is. According to some, 2024 is actually the year of the tie! Why, ribbon ties are suddenly trending (blame Beyoncé)! Julia Fox, of all people, is imploring us to embrace the cravate, and Hermès is selling them like hotcakes. And yet the spring runways told a bit more of a mixed story: in recent seasons, Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, and Paul Smith showed suits with ties, while brands like Zegna and Dior skipped them. Meanwhile, in 2022, the world’s leaders made news when they all went tieless at the G7 Summit.
Still, from Gosling’s chest-baring unbuttoned Gucci shirt, to Cooper’s crisp white Louis Vuitton button-up, to RDJ’s undone black shirt and knotted bolo tie (as if he stood on the precipice of wearing even an alternative tie and then decided against it), the men of Hollywood have shown us there’s a surprising amount of variety and breadth to embracing the no-tie look while still looking worthy of Hollywood’s biggest night. (“I wanna thank my stylist in case no one else does,” Downey shrewdly said during his best-supporting-actor acceptance speech. His stylist, by the way, is Erica Cloud.) No shoes, no shirt, no service? No tie, that’s another story all together.
