No ties that bind

I didn't get a necktie for Father's Day, the traditional necktie-giving faux holiday. I did get one as a gift last Christmas, however, a nice one that my son picked up in Milan, Italy. He had been studying in London during the fall semester and had made a weekend trip to Milan where he did some Christmas shopping for family.

The fact that I got a tie at all in 2008 should be of some consolation to the Men's Dress Furnishings Association, the trade group for necktie makers. But not enough of a concession, apparently, since the association is disbanding because the tie is loosening its knot on the American male. Necktie makers are going the way of newspapers -- there are devotees out there, but more and more people don't feel the compelling need for one anymore.

According to a Gallup poll, only 6 percent of men wear neckties to work each day, down from 10 percent in 2002. And I must say, for the last couple of years I've been part of that 94 percent that haven't been wearing a tie to work, this after almost 25 years of wearing a tie to work each day.

The ties that bind aren't what they used to be. I grew up in the Era of Ties. My Dad wore one as part of his Air Force uniform. Ward Cleaver wore one on every episode of "Leave It To Beaver." Heck, Ward continued to wear a necktie after work while home with wife June, son Wally and Jerry Mathers as the Beav. Ward would trade his suit coat for a cardigan sweater but the tie stayed on, notched firmly to the neck as he dealt calmly and rationally with whatever predicament the Beaver would find himself in that particular week.

A recent Associated Press story about the passing of neckties noted that our culture was once filled with the adornment: guys wore ties as they stood in soup and bread lines during the Depression; guys wore ties to baseball games; and guys wore ties absolutely, positively every day to the office. In New York City, that pantheon of ties on Wall Street, the tie symbolized status. The "power tie" was as important a credential as an MBA in climbing the corporate ladder.

Then the kids started taking over Wall Street and culture and business fashion. I don't mean that as a denigration, but the new kids on the block of business redefined the corporate culture with a casualness that reviled ties as constricting and old. The casual Friday attire of khakis, polo shirts or open collared shirts carried over to Monday through Thursday. The Dot-comers and Gen-Xers argued that the emphasis should be on the quality of the work, not the quality of the attire. There are still companies and managers who counter argue that attire affects work -- sloppy dress, sloppy work. But it's evident in the tie department that they are very much in the minority.

Which makes it more difficult for those of us from the necktie era to decide when is it appropriate to wear a tie or go without. It's interesting to watch the two presumed candidates for president: Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. They make appearances with ties; they make appearances without ties. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. At least with Hillary Clinton you knew you'd get a pantsuit each day.

I stopped wearing a tie when I started visiting the construction site each day during a building project I managed for Seacoast Media Group. It just didn't make sense to wear suits and ties to a job site that was alternately icy, snowy, muddy and dusty. Steel-toed boots and a hard hat just didn't seem to match up that well with my array of Cocktail Collection ties. I learned I didn't need the tie to effectively manage the process or the people. And that sentiment carried over to my post-project days in the office. Now that I'm a transitional phase of semi-retirement, it's a wonder I don't just wander around the house in my underwear all day, let alone wear a tie.

The ties don't make the man. But I do concede that it can certainly dress him up at times.