Sean Connery as James Bond wearing a tie - as always
I briefly chatted with a person serving me teach was working for English Heritage at Stonehenge the other day. His skin was covered with tattoos and I commented on this. He told me that he had been tattooed ten years ago and was quite fond of them. They were a part of his identity and he encouraged me to do the same and get myself tattooed. I told him that I would pass as I was not very fond of needles and we left it at that.
I was probably wearing a tie at the same time as I was working. I am old-fashioned enough to wear a tie when I go to work – although it is hardly necessary these days and lots of tourist guides do not bother to put one on and hardly any tourist do either. Casual is king these days but I am one of those curious men who feels he has not finished getting dressed unless he has put on his tie. An open neck shirt just does not do it for me.
A tie is a completely unnecessary piece of menswear. Women do not bother with a tie – unless they are trying to look like their male equivalents – and one man called it ‘a snake around my neck’. He obviously did not like his particular snake (and I like his image) but I have quite a collection of ties and I take a certain amount of pleasure in selecting which one to wear and putting it on, usually with a Windsor knot and the top button undone.
The point about a tie is that it is temporary. You do not have to wear the same one tomorrow and I adjust which one I put on depending on what I am doing and which shirt is on underneath. Some of my ties I hardly ever use, others have seen a good deal of service and others are now starting to show their age. Although I wear one when I go to work or to some kind of formal occasion, I have called a halt to tie acquisition and don’t buy new ones.
A tattoo, however, is permanent. Removing one is both expensive and unsightly, often leaving nasty scars on the skin. Most people stick with their tattoos or ‘body art’, as it is sometimes called. No matter how good (or bad) your tattoo is, you are stuck with it for the rest of your time on this planet. What will older people with elaborate body art on the surface of their bodies look like as said bodies start to shrink and shrivel as people age.
When I look at footballers, most of them have tattoos and sometimes they are covered with them. I prefer plain skinned people, I must admit, and I will almost certainly never allow anyone to carve anything on my torso. Not only am I unhappy with the thought of needles but I simply do not want anything permanent on my skin. Give me a temporary tie any day rather than a permanent tattoo. You can (and do) change your tie but not your tattoo.
I have further theories about ties. If you wear it fully buttoned up, you are indicating that you are a member of the establishment. If you wear it loosely around your neck with the knot loosened then you may be in the establishment but you not of the establishment. It is an expression of independence to wear your tie loose around your neck. You might earn a living by working for the establishment but you do not accept all their (usually) conservative values.
This is almost an accepted code in Hollywood films. When James Bond appears on screen he usually wears a suit and tie as he works for MI6, the ultimate establishment organisation – even if he is something of a lone wolf with his own agenda. Billy Crudup, playing a composite of journalists interviewing Jackie Kennedy is shown, however, with a loosely knotted tie in the film Jackie. The Kennedy men are shown with properly done-up ties.
In real life, Jackie Kennedy was enough of a fashion icon to not have given the time of day – let alone a full interview – to someone dressed as casually as Crudup was shown. However, the filmmaker (and possibly the actor) wanted to show a rebellious streak to the journalist so he is shown with a loosely knotted tie, which is shorthand for saying that the journo and the film are not mere hagiographies but are fashioned out of respect for the subject.
That this is the main thing I remember about the film – Crudup’s loosely knotted tie – is probably significant. I am enough of an establishment type to normally wear a tie when I go to work but, having a rather thick neck, I do not do up my shirt fully but use a Windsor knot to cover this up. I tell people that this is the one thing that the Duke of Windsor contributed that was worthwhile – even if Bond thought that the knot was the sign of a ‘cad’.
Neither ties nor tattoos are necessary. They are purely decorative aspects of menswear but, why should we not have something superficial and decorative to add to our wardrobe? Tattoos, however are permanent, and you are stuck with them even if you no longer support the cause (or the woman) honoured in them. Wearing a tie may be unnecessary but it can be fun and should not be ditched altogether for the sake of playing it casual.
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My other blog is diaryofatouristguide.blogspot.com
Edwin Lerner
