Those death-of-the-suit articles that used to come every few years in the New York Times always seemed ridiculous to me. Just like the warnings that bananas would be extinct in 5 years, the perennial warning that the suit was dying felt alarming at first, then tired after the third article.
It’s super easy to project your own experiences into whatever is happening, so I always take whatever someone says with a big grain of salt. Like those people who say you can’t get real work done on an iPad—meaning, of course, whatever it is they themselves do can’t be done the same way they do it now. But with the pandemic forcing many companies to have their employees work from home—where of course the majority of people will choose comfort over professional-looking attire—the question will be whether anybody will go back to dressing up when they return to the office. This recent Atlantic article asked whether the office dress code will return whatsoever.
In particular, I’m wondering whether anybody will ever wear a tie again. In a conversation with the buyer for a small independent menswear shop which has a sizable clientele of wealthy professionals, he told me that he’d canceled his entire order of ties back in February. He said there are a handful of guys who like them and buy one or two per season, but otherwise, they just don’t sell. That was before the pandemic.
I personally only wear a tie on pretty special occasions anymore—for really nice dinners (in or out at this point), important occasions like funerals or weddings, and for weekly church worship services (but even those have been virtual affairs for us for months, and I haven’t been putting on a tie lately). Otherwise, it’s open collar for me which is no surprise if you’ve been following my style posts for a number of years.
A few years ago, Drake’s came through Nashville for a trunk show at my local shop Haymakers. I asked the rep what Drake’s thought about the decline of ties. She replied that they thought of themselves as the tie company who, in the end, once everybody else has quit making them, would still be carrying on as kind of the definitive neck tie company. And hey, if you’re only wearing them for special occasions anyway, a $165 accessory that can be passed down 3 generations isn’t expensive in the long term.
I still get excited by ties. I still think it’s impossible to beat how good a coat-and-tie outfit looks. I got a block stripe tie in navy, gold and dark turquoise from Drake’s in the spring and absolutely love it. For a special dinner in back in April, I wore a different Drake’s tie I’d gotten from last summer. But for the most part, that’s just what they are: special occasion accessories, in the same way a pair of sleek black balmoral shoes are, or a very fine dress watch.
What about you, readers? Do you still put on a tie? Are you still required to for work? Or do you do it just for yourself? And of most interest to me, do you plan to wear them again once the pandemic subsides and we’re back in the office on a more regular basis?
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I wear ties to the office in the winter. I plan on doing that again.
Peter, Necktie Wearer, reporting for duty sir! Haha, keep it up, fight the good fight!
Ironically, I am now able to find high-end ties for pennies on the dollar in thrift shops, I guess because so many people are giving them away. I think that doing away with neckties is a big mistake. With all due respect, a sport coat, or especially a suit with an open collar almost invariably has an unfinished look to it, unless one is wearing a linen blazer on the Amalfi coast. Furthermore, past a certain age, the neck becomes the least attractive and most age-revealing part of a man’s anatomy. That is one of the reasons for such disparate types of neckwear as Elizabethan collars, silk cravats, ascots, and neckties.
I am a professor at a private liberal arts college in the Midwest. I ALWAYS wear a blazer or sportcoat with a tie to work, even though 5% of my colleagues do so on any given day (I may wear a turtleneck with a Harris Tweed jacket 2-3 times every winter). I ALWAYS wear a blazer or a lounge suit to Church, even though the only other men who do so are the lectors, a couple of ushers, and an eccentric nonagenarian. Frankly, I enjoy wearing coat and tie, and there were far too few occasions that required it even before the pandemic. One of the perks of being a professor is that I can wear pretty much whatever I want, and so I choose to dress like a grown-up professional.
You get to wear the Ivy look without it being cosplay! Keep up the good work. I’m definitely a fan of bringing the Amalfi coast linen blazer look with me wherever I go—what’s that old saying, California state of mind? Just call mine an Amalfi Coast state of mind 😎
Some of us have been physically going into our offices throughout the entire pandemic, and still are. I wear a tie when it’s below 85 degrees. As you said, it is a look that can’t be beat, especially in professional settings. I think the tie’s death is definitely being exaggerated, or else why would so many retailers still carry them and at high price points. There is obviously some kind of demand allowing this price per unit relationship to exist.
Ooh, essential employee represent!
That’s a good point about ties still being sold. I don’t know what the overall picture of the prevalence of the necktie looks like; I think it’s safe to say they’re far less worn today than they were 20, 30 or 40 years ago, but whether it will die out completely, it’s still the standard in lots of official government and government-adjacent positions (like court rooms where lawyers practice, etc.) so I don’t think it’ll go away entirely, probably ever.
We slowed to an alternate work schedule in March, but still working…. And have been
Pretty much haven’t worn a tie since March, but, I don’t normally wear ties in the mid-Atlantic hot/humid summers regardless of pandemic, so not much has changed.
Fall through spring, I’ll normally (pre-Covid) wear a tie three or four times a week. I suspect this year might be closer to two or three times, but yes, I’ll likely still be wearing ties.
That being said, I have all the ties one could need, and haven’t bought a tie in well over a year.
Ties will exist for as long as suits exits. A sport coat doesn’t require a necktie, but a suit (unless it’s linen) looks wrong without a tie. Some professions still require the suit and tie uniform and there are no signs of any big change approaching. Politicians, government agencies representatives, lawyers, TV hosts, European royalty and aristocracy, old money types in the US, will keep wearing ties for decades to come. Besides, the pandemic hasn’t lasted for 10 years; it’s only lasted for six months so far, and will likely be over in around six months. I think many people will actually enjoy going to formal events and dressing elegantly, beginning in early 2021, when social life will make a comeback.
I live in New York City and belong to a circle in which tailored clothing and neckties are expected at most social events. I am really looking forward to formal, black tie events in 2021! Let’s be optimistic. ;)
That’s a good point, they’re intricately tied together. The odd jacket/blazer look, which I favor, can be done well without a tie. But a suit is much harder to pull off well without a tie. Like you say, only really casual suits made in like linen or cut in a super frumpy way (I say frumpy but you know what I mean, unstructured and usually in proportions resembling a chore jacket rather than a suit jacket). A friend of mine growing up who is a Ph.D. researcher in academia joked whenever he had to go to a wedding or something: “Time to put on the tie.” Reminds me of my uncle who lived alone, and when my brother and I visited him with my dad when we were younger, asking him “do you have any spoons?” And his reply: “Oh, I think the spoon must be dirty, let me wash it for you.”
Anyway, you make a good point. I think that aesthetic beauty in any form can feel unnecessary and even extravagant in certain times, but as long as people enjoy beautiful things, it’ll stick around in some form or other. The tie evolved from those frilly cravats, which nobody wears anymore, so perhaps what we think of as the necktie won’t be around anymore in 100 years and something else in its place. Or maybe it’s been reduced to its simplest form (or evolved to its most effective form) and this is how it’s going to be.
Sorry for the ramblings. Thanks for the comment. It’s a good one.
Stopped wearing ties in 1998. I guess when powdered wigs come back will be the day I put back on a tie…. as the quote goes, ‘you can tell those in the office that don’t count, they are the ones wearing a suit and tie….’
Somehow missed this comment back in May. Made me chuckle.
The new generations coming up will be the death of all that. No more suits. No more ties. Some consider they represent the choke hold office life, the boss, and old ways have on one’s life. The new generation is all about freedom. Freedom to change jobs every few years, freedom of expression, etc. The tie had its time and it’s death won’t come fast enough.
It sure won’t come fast enough – it should have died about 6 months after it was first created! Good riddance to ties and stupid jackets – especially WOOL jackets – indoors.
I love this comments section so so much
Yes, always a tie with a suit or sportcoat when going out for any occasion, or even visiting friends for dinners.
I find the suit or sportcoat without the tie looks unfinished. If you button the top shirt button without a tie, it looks too stiff; if you unbutton the top shirt button (or two) then it looks incomplete. Well, that’s how I perceive it anyway.
Maybe we can come up with some other option than the necktie which still makes the result look “finished”. Some kind of decorative buttons perhaps? A clasp?
As a more casual alternative, I do find that wearing a sweater or turtleneck under a jacket or even suit can look find and “complete”. It’s something about the unbuttoned buttons on a dress shirt that I find sloppy when under a suit or sportcoat.