Matchy-Matchy

Gif of eight of Jesus Nater's mask and bowtie pairs.

Photos courtesy of Jesus Nater

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Matchy-Matchy

Provost’s office staffer Jesus Nater has a different bow tie and mask set for each day

June 17, 2021
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When Jesus Nater knew that he was going back to in-person work at the provost’s office in September 2020, he jokingly asked his seamstress mother to come up with matching bow ties to go with the masks she was sewing for him. To his surprise, she did—and then some. She quickly whipped up about 20 matching bow tie and mask sets, then made 25 more. When he joked that he couldn’t repeat a mask and tie combo, his sister stepped in: she started making sets for him, shipping them up from her home in Florida. Eventually, Nater began taking selfies every morning to show his friends and family his daily look. “To this day, I still send that morning text!” he says. 

The sartorial sets have been a hit. So far, Nater has worn almost 200 unique bow tie and mask combos, and he has yet to debut about 150 more sets. The provost’s office administrative coordinator says people in the building always smile when they see him wearing his accessories. And when he gets his COVID-19 tests, “the folks at the testing center are particularly intrigued to see what I’m wearing each time I go in.”

Photo of Jesus Nater with a mask and matching bowtie with a black, llama and cactus print mask and striped button down.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a mask and matching bowtie made black fabric, and a pattern that says "happy birthday" and balloons on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask, bowtie, and shirt with a blue and gray plaid pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is black with rainbow peace signs on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is green with a santa and candy cane pattern on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask, bowtie, and shirt with a blue and white plaid pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is white with a pattern of comic book style speech bubbles on it that say "BAM" and "BANG"
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is light blue with yellow bats on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is rainbow with white unicorns on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is light blue with a sprinkle and donut pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is dark blue with a pink flamingo and palm tree pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that is brown with a colorful swirl pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that has a rainbow pattern on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that have a black and green shamrock pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that have a white and light teal cactus pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie made with black fabric with a green and red chili pepper pattern on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask, bowtie, and button down with a muted blue and red checkered pattern.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie made with a white fabric with animals and animal crossing signs on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie made with a dark blue fabric with small colorful rain drop shapes on it.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie. The bowtie is made from a paper face mask like the one Nater is wearing.
Photo of Jesus Nater with a matching mask and bowtie that have disney princesses on them.

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  • Alene Bouranova

    Writer/Editor Twitter Profile

    Photo of Allie Bouranova, a light skinned woman with blonde and brown curly hair. She smiles and wears glasses and a dark blue blazer with a light square pattern on it.

    Alene Bouranova is a Pacific Northwest native and a BU alum (COM’16). After earning a BS in journalism, she spent four years at Boston magazine writing, copyediting, and managing production for all publications. These days, she covers campus happenings, current events, and more for BU Today. Fun fact: she’s still using her Terrier card from 2013. When she’s not writing about campus, she’s trying to lose her Terrier card so BU will give her a new one. She lives in Cambridge with her plants. Profile

    Alene Bouranova can be reached at abour@bu.edu

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There are 15 comments on Matchy-Matchy

  1. Walking in to see Chu smiling beneath his mask each morning certainly brightened each day I worked in person the past 10 months. Thank you for highlighting his creative and fun approach to masking – there’s no doubt it positively impacted many of us the past several months!

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    1. I’m smiling so big right now! It doesn’t surprise me that he would make a pandemic into a fashion statement!! You should see what he can do with wood pallets….The best part of being related to this handsome guy is that we also got some of these awesome masks too…❤ .( not w the bow ties tho)…One of my cousins loves her candy cane mask so much…she doesn’t care that its “out of season” I see her flaunting it all over the city but hey, she’ll be all set for Christmas in July! Lol We need more stories like this!

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  3. I enjoyed making all the masks and bowties for my brother and then some so he can give away/share. Till this day we share selfies every morning of us in our gear lol

    I love you to the moon and back Chu!

    Your sister Hayme in Florida :)

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  5. Walking in to see Chu in these fun masks and ties (and of course, corresponding Dad jokes) has been one of the best parts of coming on campus this past year. :) Thank you, Chu!!!

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  10. This brightens my morning seeing this. Thank you to the entire Nater family for sharing their fantastic creativity with this expression of love and concern. Inspiring!

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  12. I’m so pleased this was highlighted in BU Today. Creating something fun and unique during a stressful time is so refreshing and welcome. Kudos to you, Chu, and your mom and sister! Can’t wait to see you when I get back to the office, Chu – mask or no mask!

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