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Tie One On
Mar. 17th, 2006 11:59 pmToday (or what was today by the time you read it, being St. Patrick's Day, I was wearing green. For someone with a little Irish - as well as most of the other British Isles in him, I feel it's important to represent, and more importantly, avoid getting pinched. Of course it's rare that someone would actually pinch you with all of the sexual harassment rules at work these days, but you never know. I seem to be of a dying breed, as only about a third of people had worn green to work today. I recall several years ago that in school, almost every student would have something green on, and the few that didn't would be given something by the teacher to avoid them being picked on by the other students.
Today Donald was in all black except for one very bright Kelly Green silk tie. While our dress code is business casual, every day Donald comes in wearing a tie. It's not that he's old and set in his ways. He's younger than me. I had to ask him today, why he always wears a tie.
Of course I've gotten totally away from ties, and never look forward to putting one on. I have multiple problems with ties. I have a big neck, I don't like the chocking feeling and mostly I have a harder time finding the tall men's ties - not so much for the fact that I'm 6' 1", but for the fact that my gut sticks out, adding length to the space the tie needs to travel to reach my belt.
I've also never learned to tie ties all that well. I remember in my teens and twenties still having to pull out my cub scout manual to find how to make a simple half windsor knot. There were a few others, but this was the easiest. I believe the tie section was close to the knots section, which the hangman's noose was eligible to help you get your knots badge. The irony seems easier to see now.
When I started to work a retail job that forced us to wear ties, I had several wild print ties with cartoon characters and ones inspired by Beatles songs. I tried to make a statement with them, not so much a fashion statement, but a statement none the less. My favorite ties were my Animaniacs ties with Yakko, Wakko and Dot.
The fact was, the men had to wear ties, while the women could practically get away with wearing T-shirts. It didn't seem fair, and since this was a Mervyn's store, and not Neiman Marcus, it didn't really seem like there was any reason we were needing to impress anyone with wearing ties. My last couple of years there, they changed to polo shirts for all, and finally some equality was found.
Most of those ties are ruined now, mainly because i would just loosen them and leave them tied for the next wearing.
When I started at my last job, it was the first professional office job for me, and suddenly I had to buy a new wardrobe, especially after having to wear the Red and Khaki of Target the years prior. It was back to ties, but also slacks and good shoes. Luckily they were paying me more, so it didn't seem so bad, except for the aforementioned chaffing and choking feeling.
A few months later, AIM then went to business casual, a move that was actually opposed by the company's owners who liked the professional look, but was brought on by HR to help recruiting and retention, especially since our work force was young. I was more than happy to leave the ties in the closet, only bringing them out occasionally.
Donald however, really likes ties and is glad that he has a job where he can wear them. He told me, "I always worked in constructions and grocery - decorating cakes. I always wanted to wear ties, and now I can. Over the last year I've bought about 30 and I still want to buy more!"
I think the most I've ever owned was about ten, but I understand that your happy about getting to dress up - I guess. I actually mentioned to him that I think it's more likely that he has a bit of a "thing" - I nearly said fetish, but I decided to hold back - for ties, and to that he had to agree.
Still, it's hard to wear a tie in the heat of summer, even with air conditioning, and I wonder how long he'll hold out this year. Of course now that he's bought so many of them, he'll have to at least get some use out of them, if nothing else to show his wife that he can clean up. I think she's certainly had some influence on his decision to dress better.
Personally, I'm happy to be without them - for good.
Today Donald was in all black except for one very bright Kelly Green silk tie. While our dress code is business casual, every day Donald comes in wearing a tie. It's not that he's old and set in his ways. He's younger than me. I had to ask him today, why he always wears a tie.
Of course I've gotten totally away from ties, and never look forward to putting one on. I have multiple problems with ties. I have a big neck, I don't like the chocking feeling and mostly I have a harder time finding the tall men's ties - not so much for the fact that I'm 6' 1", but for the fact that my gut sticks out, adding length to the space the tie needs to travel to reach my belt.
I've also never learned to tie ties all that well. I remember in my teens and twenties still having to pull out my cub scout manual to find how to make a simple half windsor knot. There were a few others, but this was the easiest. I believe the tie section was close to the knots section, which the hangman's noose was eligible to help you get your knots badge. The irony seems easier to see now.
When I started to work a retail job that forced us to wear ties, I had several wild print ties with cartoon characters and ones inspired by Beatles songs. I tried to make a statement with them, not so much a fashion statement, but a statement none the less. My favorite ties were my Animaniacs ties with Yakko, Wakko and Dot.
The fact was, the men had to wear ties, while the women could practically get away with wearing T-shirts. It didn't seem fair, and since this was a Mervyn's store, and not Neiman Marcus, it didn't really seem like there was any reason we were needing to impress anyone with wearing ties. My last couple of years there, they changed to polo shirts for all, and finally some equality was found.
Most of those ties are ruined now, mainly because i would just loosen them and leave them tied for the next wearing.
When I started at my last job, it was the first professional office job for me, and suddenly I had to buy a new wardrobe, especially after having to wear the Red and Khaki of Target the years prior. It was back to ties, but also slacks and good shoes. Luckily they were paying me more, so it didn't seem so bad, except for the aforementioned chaffing and choking feeling.
A few months later, AIM then went to business casual, a move that was actually opposed by the company's owners who liked the professional look, but was brought on by HR to help recruiting and retention, especially since our work force was young. I was more than happy to leave the ties in the closet, only bringing them out occasionally.
Donald however, really likes ties and is glad that he has a job where he can wear them. He told me, "I always worked in constructions and grocery - decorating cakes. I always wanted to wear ties, and now I can. Over the last year I've bought about 30 and I still want to buy more!"
I think the most I've ever owned was about ten, but I understand that your happy about getting to dress up - I guess. I actually mentioned to him that I think it's more likely that he has a bit of a "thing" - I nearly said fetish, but I decided to hold back - for ties, and to that he had to agree.
Still, it's hard to wear a tie in the heat of summer, even with air conditioning, and I wonder how long he'll hold out this year. Of course now that he's bought so many of them, he'll have to at least get some use out of them, if nothing else to show his wife that he can clean up. I think she's certainly had some influence on his decision to dress better.
Personally, I'm happy to be without them - for good.
