Neck Ties
I guess I have worn a tie almost every single day for the past 60 years. It certainly started as part of my primary school uniform, then my high school uniform which included suit and cap for six years, then theological college and University, then in ministry where the professional standard in those days required a suit and tie for every day of the week.
Fifty years of ministry involving special meetings, preaching ten times a week to city congregations, giving evidence in courts, appearing on regular TV programs for 43 years, meetings with staff and the public, lecturing University students, training counsellors, seeking funds from corporations, conducting funerals and weddings, then nine years in Parliament where suit and tie is standard wear.
So knotting ties daily has been as regular as brushing teeth. With my work, Saturday and Sunday were also always work days. My kids used to joke that I would wear a tie on my pyjamas going to bed.
It also gave friends knowledge of what kind of present I would always welcome. A silk tie as a Christmas present was always extremely welcome, especially if it came with a matching hankerchief for the top pocket of my suit coat. Consequently I have a large selection of ties for all occasions and scores of matching hankerchiefs.
But I fear I may belong to the last generation to regularly wear a necktie. Two of my sons and son in law, although members of traditional professions, seem to manage well with rarely wearing of a tie, except on formal occasions.
Accordin to my sources, the necktie (or tie) “is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the bow tie, ascot tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. Apart from formal and business wear neckties can also be worn as part of a uniform (e.g. military, school and waitstaff).
The necktie traces back to the time of Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Military Frontier in French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of the Parisians. From the French word, Croates, the garment gained the name “Cravat”. The new article of clothing started a fashion craze in Europe where both men and women wore pieces of fabric around their necks. In the late seventeenth century, the men wore lace cravats that took a large amount of time and effort to arrange.
There was a time in the 1960’s when I wore a cravat, usually with what were called a “reefer jacket”, navy blue with gold buttons. Today only a celebrity judge on a cooking program wears cravats.
The industrial revolution wanted neckwear that was easy to put on, comfortable and would last an entire workday. The modern necktie, as is still worn by millions of men today, was born. It was long, thin and easy to knot and it didn’t come undone. By this time, the sometimes complicated array of knots and styles of neckwear gave way to bow ties a smaller version of the cravat. I have only worn a bow tie when wearing traditional black tie evening wear.
After the First World War, hand-painted ties became an accepted form of decoration in America. The widths of some of these ties went up to 110 mm. These loud, flamboyant ties sold very well all the way through the 1950s. In the 1950’s I had a number of flamboyant ties featuring hula girls, film stars and even a glorious Scotsman with a flared kilt, which could be lifted up to see what he was wearing underneath! That certainly created a lot of interest with teenage girls.
In Britain, Regimental stripes were used in tie designs since the 1920s. Traditionally, English stripes ran from the left shoulder down to the right side; however American ties had their stripes run in the opposite direction.
Before the Second World War ties were worn shorter than they are today; this was due, in part, to men wearing trousers at the natural waist (more or less at the level of the navel), and also due to the popularity of three-piece suits, for which it is considered a faux pas to let the tie stick out below the vest.
Around 1944, ties started to become not only wider, but wilder. This was the beginning of what was later labeled the Bold Look: ties which reflected the returning soldiers’ desire to break with wartime uniformity. They were very wide and designs included Art Deco, hunting scenes, scenic “photographs,” tropical themes, and even girlie prints, though more traditional designs were also available. The Bold Look lasted until about 1951, when the new style, characterized by tapered suits, slimmer lapels, and thinner and not so wild ties. Tie widths slimmed until the mid-1960s; length increased as men started wearing their pants lower, closer to the hips.
Through the 1950s, neckties remained somewhat colorful, yet more restrained than in the previous decade. By the early 1960s, dark, solid ties became very common, with widths slimming down to 5cms.
The exuberance of the styles of the late 1960s and early 1970s gradually gave way to more restrained designs. Ties became wider, returning to their 100 mm width, sometimes with garish colors and designs. The traditional designs of the 1930s and 1950s reappeared, particularly Paisley patterns. Ties began to be sold along with shirts, and designers slowly began to experiment with bolder colors.
In the 1980s, narrower ties, some as narrow as 10 mm became popular. Into the 1990s, as ties got wider again to 50 mm, increasingly unusual designs became common. These included ties featuring cartoon characters, commercial products such as Carnation tins and Cola bottles, or pop culture icons like Mickey Mouse.
At the start of the 21st century, ties widened to 100 mm wide, with a broad range of patterns available, from traditional stripes, and club ties to abstract, themed, and humorous ones.
I have always disliked the clip-on necktie with a metal clip clipped onto the front of the shirt collar. I have always used the Windsor knot with a dimple. The Windsor knot is named after the Duke of Windsor, although he did not invent it. I always wear double cuffs or French cuffs, and suitable cufflinks; usually simple, colour coded, or meaningful cufflinks according to the meetings being attended..
All ties can be classified by color in the following categories: Red – accentuates overall outfit, combines well with almost any suit and shirt, especially great match for a darker suit and white or blue shirts.
Burgundy (dark red) – business classic. Good for almost any occasion.
Blue – also among the standard and most popular colors for neck ties. Lightens a darker suit and especially worn for receptions, networking events and similar circumstances.
Orange, pink and lilac – usually worn with white, light blue or other light-colored dress shirts. I have a number of lilac ties to wear with purple shirts.
Yellow and green – Green ties are a perfect match for a classic white or green shirts.
Brown – considered to be quite casual. Worn in the country but never in town but OK for a weekend or when wearing a sports jacket with brown shoes or boots.
Black – worn either in the evening with a tuxedo, or, all the time, by waiters in restaurants and on funerals. Also worn with very conservative black business suits and black shined shoes.
White – worn in court by judges, lawyers and defenders, worn at extremely formal celebrations and other event of the same nature.
Multicolored – distinctive feature of those who want and dare to stand out from the crowd, usually attributed to young professionals. Such ties accentuate individuality, mood and taste.
The use of coloured and patterned neckties indicating the wearer’s membership in a club, military regiment, school, et cetera, dates only from late-nineteenth century England and still important and snobby in England. Pretentious in Australia.
Neckties are sometimes part of uniforms worn by women, particularly at restaurants and hotels. Many secondary school students in countries requiring ties also require girls to wear them as part of the uniform. It can also be used by women as a fashion statement.
The debate between proponents and opponents of the necktie center on social conformity, professional expectation, and personal, sartorial expression. On 17 September 2007, British hospitals published rules banning neckties to prevent the spread of infection.
In the early 20th century, the number of office workers began increasing. Removing the necktie as a social and sartorial business requirement (and sometimes forbidding it) is a modern trend often attributed to the rise of popular culture. In the 1990s, ties again fell out of favor, with many technology companies having casual dress requirements, including Microsoft, Apple Inc., Amazon.com, eBay and in the 2000s, Google.
Neckties are viewed by various sub- and counter-culture movements as being a symbol of submission and slavery (i.e. having a symbolic chain around one’s neck) to the corrupt elite of society, as a “wage slave”.”
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necktie
REV HON DR GORDON MOYES AC MLC