Men’s ties have to be the stupidest, most worthless piece of clothing that have ever been foisted on mankind. Not being a women, I can’t speak to absurdities of pantie hose, high heals, or corsets and will leave that to the fairer sex to discuss.
As a young Aaronic Priesthood holder in the 70’s, I got used to wearing a tie, but would mostly wear a clip on tie (oh the humanity…..). I remember my father teaching me how to tie a tie as I got ready to go on my mission. Then for the next two years I wore a tie Every! Single! Day! After I got home, and within 6 months I got a job that required me to wear a tie.
Back in the 1970’s, California had a law that said if an employer made you wear a uniform, they had to buy it for you. The one exception was “business attire”, which was defined in the law as a white shirt and tie! So a business could make you wear a white shirt and tie and not have to pay for it! It didn’t matter if the job was in an office environment or not, as I was hired by Save Mart grocery store to be a box boy (called courtesy clerk by the retail clerks union). For the next four year as I worked my way through college, I wore a white shirt and tie to work, helping little old ladies out to their car with their groceries.
I don’t often have to wear a tie at work today, usually only when a visiting executive, or Navy Admiral is at my office and I have to make a presentation. I also wear one when I go to the Pentagon for meetings.
Now there is a study that shows that wearing a tie can cut blood flow to the brain by as much a 7.5%, according to a recently published paper in the journal of Neuroradiology. Less blood flow leads to less cognitive capability, which would explain a lot of the dumb decisions men have made in politics, and church leadership. I had a bishop once that must have had his extra tight!
I still wear a tie to church, but since my cognitive abilities are on the decline anyway due to old age and watching the Simpsons, I don’t want to exacerbate it, so I keep my tie nice and loose. Here is how I wore it last Sunday to church.
So, what do you men think of ties? Do you wear one to work? To church?
I wear a tie six out of the seven days of the week. If I didn’t have to I wouldn’t. But they don’t bother me much. Guess I’m just used to it.
I wear a tie to church and when needed for work, but there is no compression. I can put a couple of fingers easily into my collar.
Sorry, Bishop Bill. I couldn’t read your post past “fairer sex.”
Speaking as a woman, as a teen I would often borrow ties from my Dad, so much so that he eventually selected some I could keep, including bow ties. My Dad loved ties, the fabrics, the patterns.
The important thing to watch is that you’re wearing a shirt with the right collar size. The tie isn’t going to cut off circulation if your collar is big enough. My husband is very slim, but has a wide neck where it meets his shoulders, and hence a larger collar size. As a consequence, his shirts tended to be quite baggy until the recent advent of slim fit shirts.
Looking at the photograph I’d say it’s your collar that is too small, presumably why you prefer not to fasten it.
Fast Sundays are bow tie Sundays in my ward. While I concede that bow ties ate possibly even sillier than regular ties, it makes the youth happy and it helps the adult men not take themselves too seriously. Ties – I hate to say it – will probably be around for hundreds of years still.
Stopped wearing a tie to church. Several men are jealous. No one in leadership has commented.
Ties, like most fashion, are not practical. It hangs down like an impractical bib, and I get stares if I use my tie to wipe my mouth or blow my nose.
Like you, I only wear a tie at work when making a presentation on meeting with big wigs.
At church I wear a tie 50-75% of the time. When an apostle came to visit this year, I intentionally did not wear a tie and sat on the second row–my small attempt to communicate that the culture is changing.
My medical professional sisters agree that doctors’ ties are notorious agents of contagion in hospitals and medical offices. They are banned in sterile settings. They are rarely washed in my household. How ‘bout yours?
According to Robert Kirby, ties are inappropriate because they point at the male crotch.
I object to women wearing denim skirts, T-shirts, and sandals to church and men having to dress like workers at a 3rd-rate mortuary. Is it a priesthood thing? If men have to wear ties, why not women? Maybe a tiewould indicate that they are indeed worthy of the priesthood.
I had read in other articles that ties are a sign of submission. Ties serve no functional purpose..other than for a superior to require use of the tie and exert their control. For my profession only men in utah wear a necktie in the daily work environment. I am so glad I do not work or live in Utah..
Between the ties and high altitude…oxygen masks may be needed to start some common sense into the lds decision makers.
The silliest part of neckties I had growing up was the judgemental and competition. Other kids would look at the label on the back to see who was the designer. Then dissect the tie to see how many gold bars were sewn into the interior.
I thought we went to church to learn about the Savior. But men,. Just like women are judged in a different way….. by their neckties.
I had always understood that neck ties were invented by french gay men, so they could recognise each other. With the advent of Wicapedia this appears to not be factual. Though it would have been poetic, in the church context.
I wear a tie to church, though always make sure it just touches my belt. Trump always has his tie end about 70mm below his belt, well and truly pointing to his man parts.
Interesting comment that ties communicate submission… I’ve read that ties arena to to communicate dominance and aggression, being modeled after the distinctive scarves of a powerful mercenary group a long time ago. I can’t remember the source to say how reliable it is. With that theory, though, I always thought it made sense that businessmen would wear them, but never understood their place in church. I never liked them. Always found bow ties much more comfortable.
*are meant to communicate. Thank you, autocorrect.
I’m an attorney and used to wear ties every day to work, but the culture has shifted to business casual clothing and so now I only wear one once in awhile if I’m going to have an in-person board meeting or something. I usually wear one to Church, but in the winter if I’m wearing a sweater that would hide most of the tie anyway sometimes I just wear an open collar sans tie.
We cannot blame the Church for neckties. Neckties are a standard part of dress attire in our broader culture. Neckties are still expected in courtrooms and board rooms and formal occasions and so forth. In matters of dress, the Church follows the culture.
ji I disagree. I’ve attended a lot of non-Mormon church meetings and I haven’t seen a lot of ties. We are somewhat unique in our dress standards, at least the ones for men.
No ji, I think the church lags culture by 30-50 years. We are now dressing like IBM business men of 50 years ago with the white shirts and ties. NOBODY at my work wears a white shirt with a tie. When a tie is required, a colorful shirt is worn. Maybe in another 50 years that will be the norm at church!
Yes, in matters of dress, the Church does follow culture — certainly, it does not lead culture — the Church did not invent neckties and impose them on male members. It may follow the culture slowly, or lag, but it follows. Surely, in aggregate, most of the neckties and white dress shirts in men’s stores and department stores all across the country are purchased by non-Latter-day Saints.
I just did a Google search for “senator” and clicked on images: starting from the beginning, I’m seeing Messrs Rubio, Brown, Gardner, Westrom, Toomey, Menendez, Tester, Thune, and Markey in white shirts and neckties — ALL of the men had neckties, and most of them had white shirts — and Mark Zuckerberg was there, too, in a white shirt and necktie. I am not aware of any of these men being LDS.
No, we cannot blame the Church for men’s neckties. In matters of dress, the Church follows culture. Neckties (and white shirts) are still part of mainstream dress attire in the U.S. and around the world.
My office is all business casual, so Sunday is usually the only day I wear ties anymore. I actually enjoy wearing ties, but I would probably tire of it if I had to wear one every day. Regardless, Mormons seem to be the only ones keeping the tie-with-short-sleeved-dress-shirt look alive. Showing up to church looking like a McDonalds manager (when you can afford better) repels the spirit.
Out of necessity I have a large collection of ties but I only wear them on Sunday and when I go to court or places like that. You see I only wear colored shirts to church, have for years. So I need a large collection of ties to match the shirts and pants. Why? Because my wife likes the way I look in a nice shirt and tie. If the neck of your shirt is the right size, the adding of the tie is minimal.
People ask me if I own a white shirt. I answer yes, I own one. I wear it to the temple every time I go.