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“That’s a power-house tie,” said one of my colleagues to another. “It’s my Don’t-Mess-With-Me tie”, said the wearer of the tie. “I need it for my meeting with the auditors”.
" Good choice".
And the wearer just smiled.
Being in the corporate world for more years than I care to enumerate, this exchange did not seem unusual to me. Dress for success is serious business and innocuous objects such as ties are very capable of giving out menacing messages such as ‘don’t mess with me!’
But this exchange set me thinking. In the corporate world men are pretty much confined to wearing dark coloured suits and pale shirts. The only article of clothing which can reflect any kind of personal taste and self expression is the tie.
One of the first things which is noticed about a man in a dark suit, is not as much the suit as the tie that he is wearing. Many use it as an artistic palate for demonstrating personal taste. Others unwisely ignore it. Let’s all please remember one thing - The tie, above all, makes a statement.
Many an unsuspecting man has underestimated the power of the tie. It can make or break the suit. Countless faultlessly cut suits have been ruined by an inappropriate tie. I still remember when a friend turned up wearing the most exquisite Hugo Boss suit and when he turned around, he had on the most sorry black tie that has seen the outside of a store. As if that was not enough, the poor tie had a profusion of little white poodles on it. The overall effect was very sad to see. The suit might as well have been put in a coffin with a R.I.P sign on it.
Innumerable incidents have led me to believe that most guys don’t get it about ties with little animals. Unfortunately for them, in the past decade or so, all major design houses have gone through a proliferation of animal motif ties, leaving the poor guys in somewhat of a daze of what is in and what is not. Thankfully the influx of animal motif ties has substantially subsided, however, they are still in the market. Therefore in the interests of the larger good of the public, here is a broad guideline, based on a thoroughly un-scientific sampling of personal taste of a few of my friends; somehow ties with little dogs are fine, but not poodles. Ties with elephants, kangaroos and hippos are fine, but not with water buffalo’s. Ties with peacocks, pigeons and parrots are fine, but not with ostriches. ( I told you it was unscientific!!!)
One thing is abundantly clear about ties, that a tie needs to be what the wearer is, or rather, what he is aspiring to be. Do you want to be seen as cutting-edge trendy, or strong and silent, or the flamboyant genius or as the forever classic. The tie should be working for you and send out the message which you want to send. Be it a power-house dynamo (geometrical shapes), the strong and silent type (Deep blues, Dark Greens, Greys), the unassuming underdog (pastels), or a Mr. Prime Minister (think Shaukat Aziz here).
The colour and content of the tie varies according to the flamboyancy quotient and daring of the wearer. The sedate men stick to the never-say-die ties in deep reds and maroons. The younger ones are more experimental with colours. Whatever works. A whole lot depends on personal panache and preference. Only one comment on the colour - there are some who still wear the out-of-style yellow tie. I think there is a worldwide petition being signed somewhere to let the tired yellow tie rest in peace now. It has played its part well in the corporate world and now at best should be used as a cord to hold burgeoning suitcases from opening.
The point which this article is trying to make is that ties are important and make a much louder statement than has been given credit for. But really I do believe that there is no right or wrong. Personal freedom rules. The above was just meant to be an entertaining soliloquy on a topic which did not deserve as much time as I took to write it. I am pretty sure it was Coco Chanel who said that one must wear a mink coat as if it were a cloth rag and a cloth rag as it were a mink coat. If you so want, wear all the black ties with little French poodles on them and bring out the flourescent yellow ties. Just warn the unsuspecting public in advance so we can get our sun shades out.
The next piece in this series of articles is work shoes - what to wear and what not to wear for men and women. And for men it will also encompass the all important style of socks. One day we will also tackle the sad dilemma of the Pakistani female corporate workers’ wardrobe. But not today. I have run out of marginally witty remarks for now!