Brisk WFH day: The Tie · Real Men Real Style Community

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19h (edited) • OOTD 👔

Brisk WFH day: The Tie

Had a 7:00 Rotary meeting to be followed by a WFH day. Let me get the OOTD out of the way.

MTM Black and White Houndstooth, Hanna Donnegal Tweed black w white flecks, black cotton long sleeve polo shirt over a grey Glen plaid shirt, yellow/gold Robert Talbot tie, Levi’s button front black 501 jeans, Pendleton Socks, Salomon black trail runners, Seiko Model 5 automatic.

The Tie- I and a few others in this community come from an era where the outfit I have on today would be extremely casual for a workday. On any given weekday every middle to higher end restaurant at breakfast, lunch and dinner would be full of guys wearing a tie. In my college days in the early 1980’s it wouldn’t be terribly unusual for guys to don a tie to go out on a weekend on a date or with a group of guys if they were headed to a nice series of bars. In Richmond, Va where I spent the majority of my 20s and 30’s from about Thanksgiving through the end of the year most dinner parties through the end of the year - guys wore ties to each other’s house. The Tie especially a tasteful classic is the one garment that can “tie” together the entire ensemble. That’s what today’s OOTD is trying to portray. In trying to find a way to upgrade my black w black polo and jeans combo- I grabbed the glenplaid shirt and a yellow with black pretty formal styled tie. This allowed me to upgrade with the sportcoat ( except for the hat - the last item chose). I could blather on about the sad loss of ties in menswear and how the degradation of men’s classic style has coincided with it but I would rather stay on the positive side. Why not learn the art of adding a necktie to complete an ensemble. It’s as much a feature of completing a color combination as it is about formality. The bland department store monotone outfits of the past 10-15 years has A ) guys all look like a GAP ad and B) afraid to add colors and accents that finish an outfit. I challenge any guy who rarely wears a tie to take their significant other out, even if to an Applebees quality restaurant and tell her that your wearing a tie (enough time in advance- gals get funny about being out dressed). Or do like

@Alan Dormire

and

@Chad Smith

and I, wear a tie on a wfh day. At first you might feel very weird. But think of it like that first day at the gym, or singing in public, or casting a fly rod, or using a new driver.

There is a great deal of value one can get from the addition of the simple necktie to an ensemble. It truly can “tie” a whole look together. Loose the concept of it being for “formal” attire. We have culturally been through this before. The 1970’s saw an attempt to replace the classic suit with a tie (or sportcoat with a tie) with the open fronted leisure suit replete with 8” shirt collars over the safari poly aberration’s lapel with gold chains tufted into chest hair. Hmmmm - that’s what the herd looks like tieless perhaps today. I DARE YOU to buck the herd.

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