I have mentioned here before that the necktie is the only discretionary piece of a typical man’s daily outfit. Women may have a multitude of choices, but dressing a man is really quite simple: whatever the day and whatever the occasion, it is pants, shirt, shoes, and if it is cool outside, a sweater or jacket. Add a belt or suspenders, the almost obligatory underwear and some nearly as almost obligatory socks—and there you are. If you consider that style is what starts to happen the moment that taste transcends practicality, the necktie is the one item in the daily male outfit most amenable to becoming a statement of personal style. With the advent of business casual—that international license to look innocuous in the very environment in which you should most stand out—neckties of course have become optional for business and therefore have been routinely discarded by many men. With the long-hoped-for rise in male awareness about fashion, however, perhaps that will soon reverse. Think of the possibilities: you may once again walk into a business meeting or sit down with friends at a restaurant without staring at a rainforest of wiry hairs protruding through the V of an open-collared shirt and may actually, dare we hope, find yourself staring at something worth seeing. Remember, I said before that neckties have no protective function, not that they are functionless.
Credit: Alan Behr
Related Post: A Meditation On The Necktie I
