Pay the dollar or pop the collar?!
Clark Comer – Associate Consultant
Since joining the other 6.9 million people in the ‘big smoke’ little over 3 months ago, a certain perspective has been gained. Originally the buildings, scale and general atmosphere of the place was somewhat overwhelming, (site: City Virgin) largely heightening my ‘skip to work’ mentality. Whilst this attitude is still present, I have found the naïve, disbelieving wonder felt walking across Waterloo bridge where it is possible to see the houses of parliament, Big Ben, St. Pauls, the Gherkin, the towers of London Bridge, the river AND the sky scrapers of Canary Wharf all at the same time, is beginning to fade into the background (or mist). Has my cherry been popped? Not entirely.
While my appreciation for the charm London emits will never disappear, becoming hardened to it is inevitable as it befits the ‘norm’, so I began turning my attention to the people. The city of London provides the most interesting and diverse playing field for the sport of people watching that I have personally ever come across. I put it to any unsuspecting, slightly sheltered ‘normal’ individual that a trip to Camden will blow their mind. Of course, it would be easy to sit here and discuss the rationality of a ‘MowHawk’ haircut, so I won’t – instead, I’m going to talk about the tie.
The origins of the tie extend back to Croatia in the 1600’s at the time of the Thirty Years War where members of the army wore a shortened cloth tied at the throat to identify themselves. It was dubbed the ‘Cravat’ after mixing the Croatian, French and British terms for ‘Croat’. Going forward, various types have come into existence over the years but the tie as we know it was formed in and around the First World War as a decorative piece. This is all well and good when wanting to look decorative and different, but every day at work? The question is: what’s the point?
Whilst sitting in city bars/pubs and watching the general flow of footfall pass me by, I have noticed an erratic range of beliefs when it comes to how the tie should be worn. You see, various issues are present when it comes to the tie. First being, the knot. There is an array of different ways to tie a tie. I personally favour the ‘Full Windsor’ for its geometrical fit between the collar points – others enjoy the ‘political look’ (as seen on Big Dave Cameron) and some, well frankly they don’t have a clue what their tie is up to. What looks best?! Next is the ‘shirt-tie combo’. There are actually rules surrounding this issue, ‘No stripes on stripes’ being the most common one to bear in mind. Next – top button undone or done up? Obviously, if worn properly one would have the top button done up but check this: It is actually medically proven to cause retinal problems if worn too tight due to the increased pressure surrounding the neck. So to avoid these particularly gruesome problems (and because it is more comfortable), people choose wear it with the top button undone and are subsequently deemed scruffy. Finally (surprise surprise) is what they do to your bank balance. Own 6-7 shirts? You will need 10 – 12 ties…@ £20+ a pop. This coupled with the half yearly need to update your stash to remain competitive in the ‘good tie sub-culture competition’ makes it an expensive game.
Is all of this necessary? Ties obviously have their place, especially in the client facing and political worlds but in the day to day office environment?
Does a floppy bit of cloth hanging from your neck actually look better than an open necked shirt?