The Necktie

[Note: I do not like wearing neckties. I have avoided wearing ties for some 45-50 years. In circumstances when not wearing a tie would constitute an insult or show a lack respect, I do so. But off it comes as soon as possible. For example, in the days when I was going to meetings on Capitol Hill, off the tie came as soon as I got back in the car heading to the office. The following are brief excerpts from a 1978 Time Magazine article entitled “The Odd Practice of Neck Binding.”]

“...-that vestigial bib, that morning noose- is a strange and sinister article of clothing. When a man feels ill, the first thing to do is loosen his tie, it is, after all, pressing against the carotid arteries, impeding the flow of blood to the brain.

“Often, the tie is a uniform signaling solidarity among certain kinds of men, a semaphore announcing that ‘we all speak the language.’ It gives men a feeling of security, a certain formality, a necessary distance. Although the tie may be physically uncomfortable, they take psychic comfort from it.

“ To be neat, the tie requires a shirt buttoned snugly at the Adams apple. So, especially of course in summer, the body notices that it is airlessly bound at the waist, wrists and neck. Food for the stomach and air for the lungs must pass down this strait constricted to appease teachers, bosses and headwaiters.

“ Over the centuries, the tie has gone through thousands of fitful and pointless variations; stocks, string ties and once during the 19th century, a crescent- shaped bowtie worn with a choker collar so high and stiff that the wearer would neither see to the side nor turn his head.

“A necktie cannot be the final answer. A man’s clothes should not throttle him.”

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