Opposition to and problems with neckties
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Here's bill when he's not debugging: http://ourdoings.com/brlewis/photo.html?th=9f/6t/g5hn.jpg...
I feel the same applies to suits, but people who (unlike me) actually wear suits assure me the designs change frequently in ways that are apparently non-obvious. All I know is those guys on 50s newsreels appear to be wearing the same thing the guys downtown are wearing today, and that's not true of basically any other popular item of clothing I can think of (hats? maybe?).
It's all a way to keep employees in line, following orders without question.
Suits live on because they can make anyone look good and can make a lot of people look stunning. You do want to avoid the spate of incredibly ugly suits from around the 70s and 80s (which my father still wears, bleh) made from material that would look best upholstering a couch, but otherwise, they've lasted for reason.
That said, I have one suit and I've worn it once in 10 years. (To a series of 2001 computer science job fairs. Which is to say, "waste of money".) But I have to admit I do look relatively good in it.
When the two of those things are done right, you shouldn't even notice that you're wearing a tie.
High heels strike me as much worse than ties.
However, I've worn suits and ties to things like new year's eve parties and art gallery openings and I felt like it helped me pick up women, if only because I looked different than the hordes of shaggy guys with their ill-fitting hipster gear. Note to dudes: if you weigh more than 150 lbs you don't look good in a tight t-shirt and skinny pants.
What gets me the most about suits and neckties is that even in countries such as mine, where the weather gets very warm for a large portion of the year, many people are still expected to wear neckties and suits year round. It reminds me of a saying that my mother (who grew up in the Philipines) is quite fond of, that I gather is paraphrased from an old song: "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun". What she meant to convey when she used this saying was to comment on the propensity of western cultures to continue the use of their own cultural norms, behaviours and clothing styles even when the environment in the places they colonised and began living in made no sense for them to do so.
I also see footage of "salary men" in Japan walking to work in their suits and ties for example, and I think it's kind of sad that most everyone seems to have conformed to the western suit and tie style regardless of whether it makes sense to do so for their country's climate or cultural heritage.
For sport jackets and button-down collared shirts, I tie the less formal four-in-hand. I have used the half-Windsor with Oxford-cloth button-downs (OCBDs) too.
I have also used the Pratt knott for OCBDs if the tie is too long for me. (I'm only 5'5" tall.)
As for neckties being "sexist" -- have you asked a woman how she feels about high heels?
Also, there's a difference between fashion and style. Fashion is what's available; style is what you choose. The current fashion is t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. I'm not fashionable--I don't wear that ensemble. Starting very young, I cultivated a different taste.
"...simply a method of encouraging conformity and respect for authority." Hmmm... Man, you must really hate ties... so much that you can't see from other perspectives. This kind of thinking reminds me of hatred towards other races, people of a different sexual orientation, etc.
I'm all for freedom. "Freedom" is such a powerful word. Hey, you can/may wear whatever you want. I'm going to go to work in suits, sport jackets, pressed trousers, etc. I love the freedom of choice, and I hope others feel the same way. Here's to freedom!
Some people like ties - they see creativity and individuality in the patterns, the material, the composition, the knot, and the ensemble. Just like other people see the same things in the patterns and designs on their t-shirts.
All of fashion serves no practical purpose - no need to single out people who wear one particular implementation of this.
Back when people used to dress more formally, everyone knew this, at least unconsciously. When someone needed to work late into the night on some hard problem, they'd take off their jacket and loosen their tie. This was so common that in movies it became a standard symbol for working hard.
Ties are intrinsically constraining. Unless you want to go the Reagan wattle route, a route which which a stylish, aristocratic, polysyllabic gentleman like yourself would surely eschew.
You are correct. Ties are intrinsically constraining. And so are belts. I find that if I want to be more thoughtful and creative, removing my belt does the trick. ;-) The people around me, especially the women, have gotten used to my trousers down at my ankles. :-D
The men who frequent these fora are not those fashionistas you are probably thinking of. They range from developers to lawyers to university professors, and we all have one thing in common: a love for fine, gentlemen's clothing. I'm talking about bespoke tailoring, handcrafted shoes, seven-fold ties, etc. Yes, old-school tailors still exist--visit my tailor's Web site if you're one of the very few here who's interested in learning more: http://paulchangcustomtailors.com/.