Sartorial Suicide

Although a man’s exclusive statement of fashion has been waning for years, the Wall Street Journal says it’s on its deathbed.  The tie is worn by only 6% of working men, and that percentage is declining.  There was a time when members of C-Suites, banks, law and accounting firms, and Wall Street wouldn’t have been caught dead at work without a tie.  Now, the only time you can count on them wearing a tie is when they are dead.

Male business leaders are abandoning an item of clothing that has not only separated white collar from blue collar but men from boys.  Business casual (which means “casual”) is now a way of life for male executives and professionals.  Today, you walk into a boardroom and think you’ve interrupted a group of gardeners on break.

What male executives say about ties today also says a lot about their hubris.  They say power is being able to dress the way you want to dress.  So, wearing jeans with a golf  shirt and a pair of flip flops to the office provides one whale of a testosterone rush.  They say ties no longer convey authority and respectability.  So, wearing a tie is a symbol of subservience and of trying too hard. 

These tie sentiments may also say something about corporate America’s continuing sexism.  Women, still trying to break the glass ceiling, pay serious attention to their attire.  They pay handsome sums to look respectable, to show themselves worthy of power.  If male big dogs follow their tie reasoning to its logical conclusion, they would see a woman’s concern about clothes as a symbol of subservience and of trying too hard.  It’s sort of a Catch 22 situation for the female executive, because chances are that if she came to work in a sweat suit, her male counterparts would swell up like the toads they may be.

Dress codes are often written, or at least approved, by men.  These codes allow men to dress, more or less, the way they want.  They are much more controlling about the way women dress.  While some men have relented on hose for women, it’s clear that women don’t have the freedom of dress that men have.   The tie’s predicted demise is problematic because it removes cosmetic dignity from a man’s appearance.  It’s also problematic because it becomes a 21st century statement to women that men can dress like clam diggers, but women must dress like beauty queens.  Sex discrimination is usually subtle when it occurs at the highest levels of an organization.

The sartorial suicide resulting from the tie’s abolition is, therefore, doubly lethal.  It removes a symbol of charm and stateliness long associated with being a gentleman.  It tells female fashion strivers that you’ve still got a long way to go, baby.

1. 

   Luth says:

   June 22, 2008 at 7:30 pm

   While your take on the sexism involving dress in the work place is interesting, if work were about performance rather than appearance, everyone would win. Ties may have conveyed charm, stateliness or being a gentalman, but they’ve also disguised complete idiots who knew little more than how to dress the part. Likewise, anyone on the perceiving end who falls for the suit and tie deserves what they get.
   I’m sure the WSJ obit on the tie was premature, but I wish that weren’t the case. We could all use a little reminder that the clothes do NOT in fact make the man… or the woman. If a guy needs a tie to make him feel professional, he should really rethink what he does for a living! If his co-workers need him to wear a tie, they should probably re-examine their strategic objectives.
2. 

   John Phillips says:

   June 22, 2008 at 8:08 pm

   Luth, thanks very much for weighing in. Your points are well made.

   Rightly or wrongly, clothes still make the man or woman in our society. If that weren’t the case, we would have more nudists I suspect.

   Items of clothing still disguise idiots. People on the perceiving end of nerd-dress often believe the wearer must be smart. They too get what they deserve. I would personally rather deal with an idiot who is wearing a tie than one who isn’t. It is performance that should make the difference, but why not requie all performers to be sharp dressers, which for the male would mean a tie?

   When it comes to female dress, I think the problem is almost completely insoluable. It’s not just the sexism. Many women, particularly those who want to achieve success and be in the executive suite, try to dress in a way that will please both women and men, which is impossible. But, unlike men, they have to worry about that.

   One of the things I like about the few single sex schools still left is that everyone wears the same thing. That’s particularly helpful to the girls, who would otherwise be worried about what they wear just like women in corporate America do. I also like it for the boys because they have to wear ties.

   Thanks for engaging me in this discussion. It has helped take my mind off problems in the world that are too terrible to think about very long. And remember that tomorrow is tie Monday.