h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I include the tie in a small collection of personal attire that, while they may look attractive (and certainly fit conventions) are utterly pointless....high-heels are another, although I not worn them as I have the former.

While ties are , in the same way that a sharp suit is, in professioanl or business-circles, neither one is really suited for most jobs and (at least in IT) the trend is more toward what's comfy to wear and how much knowledge is in someone's head.....truly, though, getting to that point of being able to dress casually requires the door-opening business-suit and tie.

We'll likely be stuck with this convention for a while...and while I can actually tie up a tie, I loathe wearing them: they get in the way, make me look fatter than I am, and often garrot me unexpectedly.

Fruitbat

Wear a bow-tie, It won't dangle and spoile your soup/gravy/trifle while you are about the business of getting even fatter.

In the late 70s I attended a conference in NZ. There were 27 men (average age 40) wearing ties and three of us not wearing them (average age 22)

The last of these annual conferences I attended was in the mid 90s. This time there were 20 tieless men (average age 40), 7 tieless women and three men wearing ties (average age 60)

I totally agree !! I live in Australia and find it hilarious to see "business types" walking about in suits, complete with buttoned - up, long - sleeved shirt and tie, perspiring and obviously uncomfortable in 40 degree (celsius) heat, when the rest of us are wearing short sleeved shirts with open necks. I too have attended various meetings in a managerial capacity in the last 30 years and my findings agree with yours - the tie is definitely OUT !! (Incidentally I'm 58 and most of the blokes I know don't/won't wear ties either.)

Perhaps someone can enlighten me on the accuracy of a statement that I once heard (or perhaps made up?), anyway it stated that waring a neck-tie had the effect of restricting bood flow to the head, causing, amongst other things, increased perspiration (reduced cooling) and diminished brain processes?

Why are you putting a tourniquet round your neck? It's not supposed to be as tight as that

Now I get it!
This has nothing to do with tie-dyeing ! All right then....

Watching the original episodes of Dr Who, currently showing on NZ TV, I can report that the original Dr Who is wearing the worst neckwear ever seen on TV

Got to agree. I work "behind the scenes" at a bank fiddling with computers. I never see the public, I never have to sway another person's opinion with my appearance. Why then am I forced to wear one of these bloody pointless objects?

On Fridays, we are allowed to dress normally. There is no decrease in professionalism and performance as a result.

And here's a point worth considering. I once asked why I have to wear a suit and tie while all the females don't. "Because you're a bloke" was the reply. Sexist anyone? If the situation was reversed, I can just imagine the outcry from the women who enjoy no dress code restrictions whatsoever. Grrr, have to loosen the tie now.

When I worked behind the scenes at a bank a helluva lot of years ago I had to wear stockings (hot summer, no air-con) I refused on the grounds that I was an impoverished student and the bank provided me with stockings for the 6 weeks I worked there!

Give me stockings instead of a tie anyday
Earwig

Scott Adams(author of Dilbert)compares a necktie to a leash, and says stockings are symbolic of leg irons.

What does he say about high-heel shoes and tight skirts then? Talk about restraining clothes!