For the life of me, I do not understand those folks, like me who are retired from the military, who complain about having to choose their clothes each day. I love it-well most of it anyway. I especially love the fact that I can pack lighter for business trips now-than I did several years ago.
Of course, I do have to give credit where credit is due. The reason I enjoy it has to do with the S.O. Slowly but surely, her continuing nagging advice about what to wear has begun to pay dividends. I am starting to get adept at picking out things that go with one another.
However there is one piece of clothing that I still continue to loathe. I hate the tie. Why the hell, almost 10 years into the 21’st century has not the necktie gone the way of the hat? How many men do you see wearing Fedora’s these days? Damn few I can tell you.
The tie has to be the most useless piece of clothing ever invented. Every picture I recall seeing of the future showed folks wearing open necked out fits-so why has that vision not yet come to pass?
I dread the moment each morning I have to put the tie on. Usually because it is preceded by that rather unenjoyable moment when I have to button the collar of my shirt. 15 and 1/2 used to fit. What’s up with that?
My mornings usually go about the same each week day.
Wake up. Turn off alarm and roll over. Fondle S.O. in a half awake, half asleep stupor. Hear “cease and desist” in Japanese, as SHE rolls over and says she wants to go back to sleep.
Finally arise, realizing I cannot put it off any longer. Stumble to the room of rest and then to my makeshift “other bedroom / office”. Fire up the trusty computer. Download in no particular order: porn e-mail, bank transactions, blog feeds. Wrinkle my eyes and get fired up over some idiots person’s unenlightened thoughts. Look at watch and either decided there is, or is not, time to dash of a “Jane , you ignorant slut” style of reply.
Stumble back to the bedroom-and pick out my clothing choices for the day. While dressing, hear the S.O. roll over to remind me: ” You missed a belt loop.”
Damn, feel around the small of my back-she’s right again. Why the hell could she not have been this awake 30 minutes ago? Think how mellow I would have been on the way to work-with a send off present under my belt?
Belt re-threaded, check the mirror and hear these fateful words: ” me wo cheku shite imasu ka? Kite! “( did you check your eyes-come here.”). She checks my eyes to make sure no ‘sleep’ is still there. Glance at watch and rush off to get my shoes from the shoe box.
Every day it is the same.
Which is why I love Fridays. NO TIE!
I really don’t understand why every day cannot be casual- I mean am I am going to sell Donald Trump short today? Or give the State of the Union Address? What the hell am I going to do today that I could not do with a comfortable neck?
Seems to me though that uncomfortableness is prerequisite of fashion these days-even in the military.
For example, over time, it became de-riguer to wear your flight suit all the time when you went to work. When I first started in the business, woe be unto you if you were in a flight suit and were not on the flight schedule.
And, truth be told, I liked it that way. Especially if you have had to wear the damn thing in the summer when you could be wearing short sleeve khakis-or maybe even a golf shirt and jeans on the way home.
However, now it’s woe be unto you if you wore khakis if you did not have to. Like I said, never understood that.
Just like I don’t understand the utility or necessity of ties. Any of you have any ideas why they still remain if favor?
It’s clear that you’re an east coast pogue since out here in San Diego only the old school wear ties. I worked at SPAWAR and they confused me since most of us don’t ever wear ties except for ESG and OAG. We’re not impressing anybody in our old pre WWII Vultee Consolidated hangers by wearing fashionable neckwear. In 3 years there I think I wore a tie 3 times.
You must be one of those doing the customer interface every day and they expect a level of business dress that reflects the enormous salaries that they are paying to contractors. 🙂
The way you dress speaks volumes about who you are as a person and as a business communicator. Regardless of who you really are, your clothes and body language always speak first.
Whether these perceptions are real or imagined, they underscore how your appearance instantly influences the opinions of strangers, peers, and superiors. Being well dressed in a corporate setting can influence not just perceptions, but also promotions.
I think its a result of the place I work in has so many different contractors. We are expected to represent our company well, by dressing well-and I don’t have a problem with that.
It’s society’s definition of what “dressing well” means that I have a problem with.
I can be well dressed with a comfortable neck.
Ties strangle clear thinking. In fact, several years ago someone did a study, using a doppler velocimeter on the carotid arteries, and determined that even a loosely-tied tie reduced blood flow to the brain.
I would also point out that you could reverse the Calvin and Hobbes definition of a tail as “a necktie for your butt.”
Hey Skippy-san, It’s called payback 🙂 Actually, you just have the wrong job. Us poor under paid, but tie free techs pity the “suits”.
Heh, heh, heh. We don’t wear ties at our facilities here in Dearborn…nice and comfy (except freezing-ass cold, but that is another issue).
The tie is today’s sartorial equivalent of yesteryears cod piece. A modern day phallic symbol.
Have you considered a Bolo. Much more comfortable.
Re: the flight suit aspect of your post, preach it brother. If you aren’t flying, you shouldn’t be wearing a flight suit. Period. The USAF seems to be worse about this than the other services (you don’t see Navy shoes running around the Pentagon in coveralls), which probably has something to do with the fact that those that wear flight suits also wear the coveted wings which make them better than us non-rated pogues. The really funny thing is that I have yet to meet a single rated officer who thinks that he’s better because of the wings on his chest…yet that mentality still pervades the Air Force.
Anyway, I don’t know why ties are still around, but to me it’s always more about how your clothes fit and complement you as opposed to whether or not you have a piece of cloth around your neck. Not saying that ties don’t upgrade an outfit (they just do) but someone in a well tailored sport coat and khakis with a open collar button down appears to me more well dressed than someone wearing an ill fitting suit and tie.
Purpose of ties?
It’s kinda like reins–a handle to lead you guys around with.
Oh, wait… I forgot. That particular device is already built-in at birth for you guys. 😀
Can’t argue with that. Feed me, burp me, put me to bed.
“I have a hankering to go back to Orient and discard my necktie. Neckties strangle clear thinking.” (Lin Yutang, quoted in Eritrea Profile of 3 Jan 98)