What a depressing feature. For over a millennium a properly dressed gentleman wore a neck tie. The tie serves no purpose except to hide the top button on a shirt. Perhaps it gives your girl a handle to grab you and pull you down to her face for a kiss, but that has never happened to me. Nor has a bad guy every grabbed my tie to direct me like the reigns on a horse, though that would certainly be a possibility.
We have been fighting the tyranny of the necktie for years now and we have made some progress. While here in Utah a trip to the ward meeting finds a bevy of white shirts and ties, a worship experience in most other venues finds very few ties. Many times no one is wearing a tie except the pastor and maybe one or two old timers who still believe it the dress code for the Lord’s house. At our church not even the preacher wears a tie. Usually he is wearing Jeans and sandals. We are making progress. Down with tyranny of the necktie!!
Just as this progress begins to register I see a feature this morning on CBS about the comeback of the tie. Once again the 20 somethings in our culture are rejecting the progress we have made toward liberty. Sales of neckties are up to that age group. It is becoming fashionable to wear a necktie again.
Some of the reasons given are,
It gives me a feeling of empowerment.
It gives me an air of respectability.
It makes me feel like I have one up on everyone else.
I feel more dependable with a tie.
I feel so stylish.
I feel like a good businessman.
Excuse me while I barf. A neck tie makes me feel non of those things. It makes my neck hurt. Wearing one too long chafes my neck. I feel trapped and totally a victim of the tyrant called culture whenever I am wearing one.
The interviewer on the news cast talked with a clothing salesman. The salesman in trying to make the case for wearing ties said “a tie ups the look a little.” I would say, “it ties up the neck a little.”
He said, that it “even dresses up Jeans. It is an interesting piece that makes one stand out more.”
Excuse me again. Ok, I am back. The documentary concluded with on the street interviews with one saying it makes me feel “clean, smooth, and proper.”
One last time, please excuse me.
I am old enough now that I can forget wearing ties. I don’t plan to wear one very often, only when not wearing one would be rude. But the 20 somethings are messing up their own lives, as well as the lives of those who follow. If they want to chafe their necks and wear a bridle, it is up to them. Go for it.
One last question. Why would a “postmodern” want to sell out to the “modern” culture of men’s wear and tie a noose around their own necks?
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3 comments:
I never knew you had such strong feelings about ties...3 personally think when men wear ties it's attractive (not with jeans, tha just seems silly), but I don't have to wear them so I don't think my opinion really counts :)
I think you know me well enough to know that I won't be joining some postmoderns in this trend. I really like the polo shirt, jeans, and flip flops look. I totally agree that a necktie is constricting and horribly uncomfortable.
The tie actually serves several important functions in fashion. Most importantly, it provides structure and form for the shirt collar so that the collar doesn't turn under and fall under the lapel of your jacket (assuming you are wearing one). Even without a jacket, however, the tie still brings some architecture to the collar. It also discourages men who don't know better from letting their chest hair--or worse--an undershirt peek out from their shirt collar. In short, you can wear a tie without a jacket. Please don't wear a jacket without a tie. Especially if it is an oxford collar. You're just begging to be made fun of.
It can also help to compliment your face, if you know how what you are doing. i.e. a man with a long, thin face can wear a wide tie with a full windsor knot, to help broaden and ground his face. Similarly, a man with a wide face like myself can wear a skinnier tie with a smaller knot to help make his face look thinner.
Lastly a Tie can serve a multitude of purposes in fashion. they can bring a flash of color to an otherwise conservative outfit. This allows you to make a strong statement and stand out in a situation where more formal dress is appropriate. They can tie (no pun intended) a shirt and jacket or pant together that might not work well together without a tie. They serve as a great contrasting element. Wearing a bright colored shirt, with a conservative tie, for instance, or vica versa. A good tie with a good shirt is a good thing.
As for your complaints about chaffing. You should consider wearing shirts with a bigger neck, because this sounds like a problem with your shirt collar, not with the tie. You don't need to cinch a tie so tight that you can actually feel it strangling you. It just needs to come to the top of your shirt. So for the love, loosen the tie, and if that doesn't help get a bigger collar.
Lastly, a tie is a fashion statement, not a political statement, so you would need to look into the fashion and art of postmodernism to find why they would consider wearing ties. Pairing a tie with jeans, and maybe a sweater vest, but leaving the top button unbuttoned and pulling the knot of the tie down, for instance is deconstructing traditional conservative dress.
That is just playing devil's advocate though. Wearing ties has nothing to do with postmodernism, and eveyrthing to do with people ooming to their senses. kahkis and polo shirts are best left on the golf course, not the workplace. Not anywhere.
In conclusion,
Go TIES Go!!!
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