Often associated with ballet dancers, school girls, and playing dress-up, bows are a signifier of youth. As such, they are often deemed frivolous. But, back in the day, the bow motif was a utilitarian component of style. Take, for example, the Middle Ages when bows, predominantly made of satin ribbon, were sewn onto women’s and men’s clothing to keep garments in place, according to Summer Anne Lee, a fashion historian and adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology.