Are ties old hat?
Jeremy Paxman has announced that ties are "utterly useless," and Mr Tie Wearer of the Year (Jon Snow) has agreed with him, thereby preceding the biggest slump in tie sales since Alex Higgins got a note from his doctor saying he couldn't wear one whilst playing snooker.
The anti-tie brigade claim that ties suggest elitism and promote a sense of hierarchy between wearer and non-wearer. One suggestion put forward was that if everybody stopped wearing ties people would feel more easy at meetings. So how does that work? Does the client feel better when I tell him he has a tax bill of umpty ump thousands because I'm wearing my Lacoste shirt rather than my Gianni Rivera tie? It's bizarre.
I've worn a tie every working day for close on thirty years. My Grandad (Dad's Dad) wore one every day (yes seven days a week) from his demob in 1945 to his death in 1984, he felt undressed without a tie. It's part of my weekday uniform, when I come home and take off my tie and suit I stop being an accountant and become Joe Somebody, Mr Weird if your my daughter or Nathalie's Cool Dad if your one of Nathalie's friends. I like wearing a tie, it gives me some sort of status - and I suppose that's the problem for the detractors.
I had a client, successful IT business who ultimately sold out to a US company, where everybody came to work in jeans and polo shirts. After a while the staff realised that 'dress down Friday' was in fact 'dress down everyday' and they asked management if they could have one Friday a month where they could wear suits. How bizarre is that - 'dress-up Friday'.
Perhaps after thirty years in the world of accountancy I've become subsumed in the culture of suit and tie wearing but honestly, a chap needs to feel like he's one of the chaps (with apologies to Yes Minister).
3 comments:
I hated wearing my suits to work. Formal is just not my style and I never felt comfortable in them even though I did go for bright happy colours as well as the more sober sort for the more sober clients. I now own no suits and that suits me down to the ground!
It is something that I think about though, how previous generations dressed far more formerly than we do now. You look at those photographs from say the 50's of a day trip to the seaside and the men are all there in ties, waistcoats, flat caps and braces and yet they don't look at all uncomfortable.
It is just a change in culture. Only a few years ago to do a business meeting without suit and ti (or at least jacket and tie) was unheard of (unless you were Richard Branson who is the only one I can think of who has NEVER worn a tie but made it big) I too always used to wear a tie but these days I rarely wear both but often wear just a jacket (or even suit) without a tie. This is not following fashion but a norm in some countries (e.g.Iran) but funnly enough in nearby Saudi Arabia I definitely wear jacket and tie unless I'm 'in the countryside' (desert!) In many South American countries a suit and tie would almost lose you the respect of those you're dealing with! Designer label smart-casual clothes are the norm.
I'm a huge fan of Jon Snow's ties. However I rarely wear them myself. Interviews, weddings, funerals, christenings etc are the only occasions on which my one and only suit (I've only ever owned three in my entire life) sees the light of day. I've always been fairly junior at work and the idea of "Sunday best" seems quite silly to me.
Perhaps I'm just a scruf.
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