By Francis Slobodnik, first published on Return to Order
One article of men’s clothing that is sadly on the decline is the necktie.
This abandonment reflects a refusal to accept any restrictions, discipline or discomfort in clothing or presentation. Many want to feel comfortable at any cost, even if undignified. Comfort and informality are today’s fashion gods. People will go to great expense to wear torn and ragged fashions with designer labels to worship at the altars of these gods.
The necktie is one major casualty of the war on good taste and formality. Some still wear it, but it is sadly disappearing and only visible on rare occasions. A person wearing a necktie stands out in a crowd today.
….
In today’s world, t-shirts, blue jeans, tennis shoes and an occasional blazer have invaded every part of life. The open collar conveys a sense that nothing is really important. The individual’s self-interest and comfort reign supreme.
People fail to realize that how they present themselves externally reflects the interior aspects of their souls. Elevated dress encourages good and elegant behavior. Slovenly dress encourages an attitude that reflects laziness and a lack of self-respect and discipline.
Wearing a tie in a tieless world requires courage and personality. Such a man does not go along with the fads and fashions of the world. He knows how to assert himself.
….
Thus, while the tie may seem restrictive, it promotes a dignified, professional and polished appearance that uplifts the soul. It reflects a desire to please others by appearing and acting like a gentleman. Over time, a man learns to feel comfortable in a tie, just as he learns to accustom himself and sense the delights of self-discipline.
The tie was a small detail in a Christian civilization. Those seeking to do something to oppose the destruction of good customs would do well to get a tie and learn how to tie it. Stand out from the crowd. Be part of that restoration of a Christian order that is sacral, austere, anti-egalitarian and anti-liberal.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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But what about people like us who have tattoos and blue hair, and the only thing we’ve ever used a tie for, is a first aid tourniquet? This is fogey speech. Albeit, I should not, and don’t want to condemn him for insisting on wearing ties. May he only realize that God does not look at the outer appearance, but at the heart. Maybe when I’m older, I’ll be tempted to do the same thing..insist that Christians should go back to “the good old days” and be tatted down with multi-coloured hair! And nose piercings too!
i like wearing a bow tie… and i have tattoos, a 1-inch ear plug, and purple hair… well, i HAD purple hair. these days i shave my head. but i wear a purple suit, with a wide-brimmed hat and a bow tie, and it looks AWESOME!
of course, i also, sometimes, wear a cassock and a kamilavka (russian orthodox priest’s hat) when i REALLY want to confuse people. 😉
i say people should wear what they like, and to hell with people who don’t like it.
I don’t remember Jesus wearing a necktie. Nor cufflinks. So, using Slobodnik’s logic, Jesus must have been a liberal.
I love to wear nice clothes when I’m in public, including, on occasion, ties. I have 14 fedoras and summer hats, 12 pairs of suspenders, with shoes to match. As Polly will testify, I am a color coordinated man who trips over his own two feet. 🤣❤️🤣 That said, I make no judgments on how people dress. I had enough of that shit as an IFB church member and pastor.
My summer outfit is white pants, white belt, white keds shoes, rainbow 🌈 suspenders, and a red/pink linen shirt (which Polly HATES to iron, but she loves me 🤣❤️). Last week, we attended a Buffalo Rose concert in Ann Arbor. Several people told me I was the sharpest dressed man in the venue. Made my day. Of course, another man told me I look like Colonel Sanders 🐔🤣🤣 So there’s that 🤣🤣
I will wear a tie for formal occasions, such as a job interview, wedding, or some other event where the standards require one. It certainly is uncomfortable, as the whole arrangement swiftly makes me overheat, even in winter. I don’t like dressing up, so to speak, and in virtually all circumstances I will wear jeans and a t-shirt, as I am comfortable in that.
I fail to see what is uplifting about a piece of fabric wrapped tightly around one’s neck, least of all if it’s not a formal occasion.
I find it interesting that the author turns a matter of taste into some sort of sin against God. So much going on in the world, yet this preacher thought men wearing neckties was a pressing issue. I spent the first 35 years of my life around this kind of nonsense.
I have visited IFB churches that require men to wear ties while attending church. Even worse, the late Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, had ushers give paper dresses to anyone woman attending services wearing pants. I kid you not. 🤣🤣🤬🤬
It certainly seems that IFB types and other fundies pick very strange battles. When was the last time someone like this sought to actively tackle homelessness, or poverty, or crime? Nope, as you say, it’s the important, life-altering, Christ-affirming dress code upon which they hang their hat! And you can bet it’s an expensive fedora too 🙂
Apparently he’s never heard of white-collar crime. In his opinion, crooks in $2500 suits are probably just misunderstood and persecuted. 🤦♀️
This dude sounds like a trad-cat 🐈⬛ traditional Catholic. These folks make the same argument for dressing up for mass, often citing the feast of the poor where the person not wearing the proper garment was cast out.
I dress decently for mass, but not a tie. If it was a wedding, etc then yes certainly. I ususally try to look like the other guys in their 50’s. Not too dressy and not too lax. And yes, nice shorts in the summer.
That’s right. When Jesus wandered the desert for forty days, he did so in a navy pinstripe double breasted suit from Naples and a silk tie from Milan, while his disciples lagged behind in their comfortable, yet undignified, tunics and sandals. It was this sartorial discipline, this rejection of informality, that truly prepared him for his mission. It wasn’t the temptation of power or riches that Jesus resisted; it was the urge to swap his bespoke brogues for some casual, open-toed footwear. And the Last Supper? Not a feast of humble bread and fish, but a posh, tie-only affair, where everyone had to endure the temporary discomfort of a well-tied Windsor knot for the sake of good taste.
If the dude likes ties, he should wear ties. If others don’t want to wear ties, they shouldn’t have to!
I work in the fragrance industry – we manufacture fragrance to sell to businesses that add the fragrance to their products (soaps, lotions, candles, diffusers, cleaning products, fine fragrance, etc) using their own packaging and marketing. We’re fashion-adjacent, so people working for fragrance houses typically have their own sense of style. However, we’re visiting a wide variety of clients. We’re meeting with marketing people, purchasing agents, technical people, plant managers – the gamut. And each of these departments have different modes of dress/style. Some wear uniforms or a company logo shirt. Others wear whatever casual or business casual attire is permitted for their company and job function. Others dress up. Typically, I will wear stylish business attire – a nice jacket, top, and dress pants – sometimes funky or colorful. However, when I was traveling around Vietnam visiting factories in 90 degree-plus temperatures and humidity, the jacket was a no-go. And the customers – even business owners – were generally wearing a button-down shirt or polo and dress pants or khakis. You really just want to look respectful while wearing something that makes sense in the weather. (I haven’t seen anyone wearing a tie in our industry in 15-20 years unless it’s a gala or fine fragrance launch).
Different industries have different business attire too. My daughter works in law, so she has to dress pretty conservatively – dress pants and a button-down, a jacket in cooler weather, and the colors are more muted than what I can wear.
I’m a heavy duty mechanic which involves being cold, wet, dirty and greasy. Does my reluctance to wear a tie make me less of a person? What a bunch of static from the soap box.
Ah, wearing a coat and tie. Why do men do that? I go to many funeral visitations, living in a small town. Not many men wear this anymore but I look at those who do differently. To me, dressing up for a funeral conveys a respect for the family. Dressing up tells the family that the occasion is special, that the deceased was deserving of special respect. A man wearing a coat and tie shows respect for the deceased and the family.
Wearing a tie isn’t a suicidal act. I don’t think that it hurts. Besides, a coat and tie is especially sexy.
Disgusting comment deleted.
Judging from old memories and a book about clothing styles over the last few centuries, wearing a suit and tie is a fairly recent development. During the 1950s it was normal attire for male office workers in big cities. Men who worked around machinery avoided ties as dangerous! (a farmer we know had his clothes get caught by his tractor. the machinery literally ripped his overalls off his body. he was fortunate to survive. other people similarly snagged get wrapped up in the moving parts and get badly injured, some fatally) In England it was apparently standard for graduates of the more exclusive schools to wear the school tie as a sign of privilege and rank. Why should we adopt a tradition meant to uphold an antiquated class system?? (wearing a suit and tie for special occasions is another matter entirely. context matters)
Yeah…his head might explode if he were to consider how I dress.
As for which takes more courage, wearing a tie or wearing some of my edgier outfits, I suspect the tie would lose.
But, I will say that people notice if you have a good, stylish look like Bruce mentioned.
I’m all for bowties when appropriate, the chippendales men are very classy. I think if more young fit men dressed like the chippendales men, the world would be a better place🤣. I have a feeling that this is not what the quoted author was thinking but who knows what skeletons he has in his closet anyways.