Are Men's Ties Falling Out Of Summer Fashion?
As thermometers start to creep up toward the triple digits, office menswear starts getting casual. It makes sense; having a thick ribbon tied around your neck in the sweltering heat is, by all accounts, a revolting experience.
Our very unscientific polling of the NPR newsroom revealed only 8 percent of men wear ties on hot, summer days. We wondered: Could we, humble fashion pioneers, be on the brink of a cutting-edge fashion trend?
We posed the question to a group of fashion experts. They all agreed that each industry experiences its own unique trends in office menswear. While men in creative fields are dressing more casually, the dress code in tech companies has been sharpening up. The uniforms in medicine, law and finance are as stiff as ever.
Choire Sicha blogs about men's fashion for The Awl. Speaking on behalf of the creative sector, he says professionals in media, PR, advertising and architecture have started moving away from the suit-and-tie uniform, preferring slacks with a crisp, button-down shirt. "We're allowed to push the boundaries of what we're allowed to wear," Sicha says.
Many men hang a neutral-colored sport coat in their office, to round out the look. Sicha recommends stashing a tie in your desk for after-hour events. "I will actually put on the dress shirt and tie, but pull the tie down and unbutton the top collar as if I have been suffering in a tie all day, yet I still look dressed up. It's a good look," he says.
Lu Verde says you would not believe the number of ties he sells every day at Bergdorf Goodman's flagship store in New York City. He says lawyers, doctors and bankers are unfazed by the heat. "A man just walked in last night and picked out 20 ties for himself in five minutes, and you're talking about $200 a tie," Verde says.
Tie DO's And DON'Ts
DO wear a tie with a full suit.
DON'T wear a tie with slacks.
DO pair a skinny tie with a tailored suit.
DON'T wear bow ties without a tux.
DO wear cotton ties in the summer.
DON'T wear novelty ties.
DO wear blue; it always looks good.
DO be careful with prints.
Source: The Manual