The vast majority of men’s ties are not vegan. Most neckties are made from silk, a fiber taken from silkworm cocoons. Fortunately, with just a little searching, you can find well-made and stylish vegan ties.
What’s Wrong with Silk?
There are strong ethical reasons to avoid silk—chief among these being that silkworms are boiled to death when the fibers from their cocoons are processed into silk.
With any luck, silk will soon lose its dominance in the necktie market—just as we’ve already seen this material lose its top spot elsewhere. Back in the nineteenth century, women’s pantyhose were invariably made of silk. The invention of nylon in 1935 rendered silk uncompetitive—nylon is cheaper, stronger, and more sheer than silk.
Sadly, nylon’s translucence makes it unsuitable for neckties. But other plant-derived or synthetic fibers work beautifully for this purpose.
Vegan Alternatives to Silk
The best vegan necktie materials are rayon and polyester. Rayon is a premium fabric with a natural silk-like sheen. Some polyester ties look cheap and garish, but the good ones are every bit as attractive as silk or rayon. The best rayon and polyester ties are essentially impossible to distinguish from silk. In fact, since silk is far more expensive than vegan alternatives, some tie makers fraudulently label their polyester ties as silk, knowing that the general public cannot discern the difference.
When tie shopping, you may also encounter “satin” ties, which refers to a particularly lustrous polyester fabric.
Linen is another excellent vegan material that’s commonly used in neckties. It’s not shiny like silk or rayon, but it adds a warm and sophisticated look to the right outfit.
Buying Advice for Vegan Neckties
Upscale men’s clothing stores may not carry vegan ties. Your easiest purchasing method is to shop online. But, as we’ll see, it’s not necessarily your best choice.
Shopping Online
Ties.com is an impressive and well-organized specialty store, with search tools optimized specifically for neckties. It’s a boon to vegans because the site allows you to search by fabric. They carry an extraordinary variety of ties made from every conceivable vegan textile.
You can also buy directly from two tie makers. Jaan J. makes beautiful satin ties that look just like silk. If you want something a little more unconventional, check out High Cotton ties and bow ties.
As you might expect, Amazon.com sells many attractive vegan ties.
For even more possibilities, do an internet search for vegan neckties, and also search for neckties plus each of these terms:
- rayon
- polyester
- cotton
- microfiber
Neckties Carried at Retailers
Ideally, you can buy your ties in person rather than online. There’s no article of clothing where color and texture are so imperfectly captured in photos.
When buying ties in a store, the back of the tie will usually carry a label disclosing its material.
Perhaps the best place to buy vegan neckties locally is the last place you might expect: dollar stores. That’s right—dollar stores. Many of these stores have a small selection of surprisingly nice neckties. And since they cost practically nothing, they won’t be made from silk—which is prohibitively expensive at this price point.
Similarly, street vendors in some big cities sell very inexpensive ties. Once again, these ties are too cheap to be made from silk, and are therefore pretty much always vegan.
So that’s all there is to it. Like most other vegan apparel choices, it takes a little extra effort to choose vegan neckties. But it’s not remotely difficult, and you won’t need to compromise in the slightest when it comes to finding choices that are attractive and stylish.
