What’s the deal with neckties?
“Never take advice from someone wearing a tie.” Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Full disclosure: I am noticeably fashion-challenged, so anything I state in the following article must be weighed against that fact.
How do I know this?
I have lots of friends who are most generous with unsolicited advice, such as, “Ken, those bell bottoms have been out of style for decades; are you waiting for them to come back into style?” and the classic, “Ken, those Nike running pants do not go with your white Miami Vice jacket with the rolled-up sleeves.” But, at my age, I can afford to ignore the fashionistas and wear my old torn running pants and AC/DC tee shirt.
If a woman has ever told you, “If you want to go out with me, you have to ditch the mullet,” you may be fashion-impaired.
Likewise, if your entire family—Mom, Dad, and the kiddos—shows up at your niece’s wedding wearing camo, you have commited an unforgivable fashion faux pas. However, if you did create a spectacle at such a celebration, you probably need to be more knowledgeable about your lack of basic fashion sense.
Still, I don’t understand why a man or woman would willingly tie a piece of cloth around their neck like a hangman’s noose for fashion’s sake.
In preparation for writing about the necktie, I conducted a poll by asking a dozen or so people of all ages, sexes and occupations about their feelings about the tie.
One respondent, we’ll call him Dr. J, began by saying, “For years, I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me that question.” His statement suggests his attitude about tie-wearing, which I share, and it ain’t a love-fest. More from Dr. J later.
Rather than continuing to voice my disdain for the necktie, which should be crystal clear by now, why don’t we step back in time and look at how we began willingly slipping a fabric noose around our necks?
Let’s dial our time machine back to the Renaissance, the 15th and 16th centuries, and view the necktie from a historical perspective. We can then search for the slightest scintilla of reason for why we would burden humanity with some- thing that the Marquis de Sade could have designed.
A brief history of culturally imposed masochism
Beverly R. affectionately discusses neckties, saying, “My history with neckties runs deep. Having three brothers and my father always wearing ties to church on Sunday mornings, I had a lot of ties in my house. However, as a seventh-grade clarinet player in the junior high marching band, I first learned to tie a tie.
“We were not allowed to wear clip-ons, so at 13, I learned the skill, and like riding a bike, I still can tie a tie! When my father passed away at 95, I collected all of his ties and started piecing them together to make a quilt, as I knew there would be little value in passing them on as apparel.”
The powerful and wealthy of the Renaissance strived to be overdressed like never before. Even getting dressed often required several servants. Clothing, for the elite, was not a matter of just slipping into something comfortable. The act of getting dressed back then is better described as shoehorning the body into clothing that binds, hides, or reveals whatever body part the fashionistas dictated.
The French are credited with making the tie a fashion craze of the Renaissance and beyond. Still, they got the idea from a colorful knotted neckerchief worn by Croatian mercenaries during the 30-Year War.
In his book The History of the Tie, James La Barrie describes his affection for the necktie: “While the necktie no longer serves a practical purpose, it continues to be a symbolic adornment. The tie symbolizes dignity, decorum, elegance and respect—both given and received. Additionally, as a gentleman’s most prominent fashion accessory, ties provide a highly accessible opportunity for self-expression.”
In French, the tie is called a cravat. There are many variations on the theme of neck adornments: ascots, bow ties, bolo and zipper ties.
In modern times, the width and length of the tie have changed with the current fashion: I can still remember wearing the narrow tie trend of the late 1950s.
The knot is also essential to a properly finished tie, and there is a knot for all occasions. The four-in-hand knot is the most popular, while the Eldridge knot is more formal. Yet, there are many more knots: Kelvin, Half-Windsor, Prince Albert, Balthus and the ever-popular Trinity knot.
Concern for tie wearers’ safety in the workplace led to the unfashionable but safe clip-on tie. You would be astounded at the number of strangulations from wearing a regular necktie around reciprocating machinery.
When I was an officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, we were required to wear a clip-on to prevent being strangled with our own tie by a violator, not that your basic litterbug would do such a thing. On second thought, we are living in a world where just stopping up to a house to ask directions can get you killed.
Poll respondent Larry S. of Akron, Ohio, discusses how fewer people are wearing ties these days by saying, “No tie for me. Weddings and funerals are it. My father and grandfathers never had to wear them for work. I did “love” my clip-on uniform tie. Neither of my adult sons wears a tie. They have a couple of ties they never untie but slip over their necks.
“It’s funny how times change. When you watch old baseball game movies, all the men are wearing suits and ties, along with a hat. I go to the ballpark in shorts and a t-shirt.”
Corporate employee Mark T. recalls his experience with the necktie this way, “ I’m glad that I rarely wear one anymore, and only for the most special occasions. From the old days, I recall the frustration of dripping food, things like salsa, pho, etc., on a nice silk tie. Those stains rarely came out.
“In a post-pandemic world, business dress has become much more casual. Except in certain industries, it is rare to see someone with a tie or suit. In a management role and working with executives, I may wear a sport coat, but not a tie.”
Dr. J has an interesting take on the continued use of the necktie in today’s world: “In my observation, wearing a necktie is mostly about conforming to rules or societal expectations. The act of wearing one shows that one is either following a mandated dress code or showing respect for the situation or occasion.
“When we go to a wedding, funeral, church service, theatre, trial, party, fund-raiser, etc., wearing a necktie—we are either acquiesing to what is expected or we are making a statement of acknowledgment that the event is important enough for us to dress up in addition to just showing up. The other element of neckties is fashion. Some people probably believe they look better or more important wearing a necktie or they are answering the call of consumer obedience.
“I look at the ways of the world through a lens of practicality and, to some extent, evolutionary biology. I feel that our species is squandering our relatively unique trait of opposable thumbs and excellent manual dexterity on the necktie. We’ve chosen to waste those gifts on the act of tying pieces of cloth around our necks to be purposefully uncomfortable and put ourselves at risk of being choked to death in the event of being assaulted or accidentally getting the thing caught in a machine or something. As a species, we can do better.”
I am publicly giving the following notice to the executor of my will: If you plant me in the ground with a tie around my neck, I will haunt you ceaselessly until you exhume my body and take the damn thing off. I mean, who wants to wear a tie for eternity?
Well, folks, we have discovered some strong opinions about neckties, both pros and cons. Unfortunately, this rational rant about neckties has run out of column space.
In the next episode of For Your Consideration, we’ll examine the challenges of bringing back the codpiece as a fashion accessory for the modern man – or not.
Ken Springer
ken1949bongo@gmail.com
