Cutting ties: the sad decline of men's neckwear (this is satire, right? Right?)
Link to tweet
The Spectator
@spectator
'It cannot be chance that the decline of the tie has coincided with the erasure of everything it once meant to be a man. Masculinity is considered toxic. The tie is being cancelled.'
✍️ Jonathan Miller
Cutting ties: the sad decline of men’s neckwear | The Spectator
Of all the global trends exacerbated by Covid, the demise of the necktie is probably not the most important. It is, however, worth noting — because the way we dress tells us a lot about who we are....
spectator.co.uk
2:30 AM · Dec 14, 2021
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/cutting-ties-the-sad-decline-of-mens-neckwear
Of all the global trends exacerbated by Covid, the demise of the necktie is probably not the most important. It is, however, worth noting — because the way we dress tells us a lot about who we are.
The tie has been on the retreat as a quintessential item of the male wardrobe for the past 30 or so years. Thanks to all that working from home, it is now at the edge of imminent extinction: soon it will be worn only by eccentrics, dictators or eccentric dictators. The worker bees have returned to their office hives, but on the whole their ties have not come with them.
It cannot be chance that the decline of the tie has coincided with the erasure of everything it once meant to be a man. Masculinity is considered toxic. The tie is being cancelled. You don’t need to be a Freudian to grasp the significance of this.
Not so long ago, almost every British male wore a tie: schoolboys, shopkeepers, bus drivers, policemen, bank clerks, GPs. The history teacher’s was stained with soup. It was unthinkable to leave the house without one. President Clinton would greet guests at the White House by complimenting them on their tie. (For what it’s worth, when Jeffrey Epstein visited he wore a curious dark number with faintly sinister reddish circles.)
The tie has long been a signifier of purpose, self-discipline and authority. Even conformity. Yet these are now considered old-fashioned. Indeed, one by one, all have been progressively degraded and consigned to history’s rag bin.
*snip*
= new reply since forum marked as read
Any more than why not wearing one should be seen as a decline in traditional masculinity.
I love wearing ties. I have about a hundred of them, and I feel more attractive when I wear one. (Anything that distracts attention from my face is a plus, if you ask me.)
One of the reasons why I enjoy wearing a tie is that it’s a way for me to show my respect for my patients. Most of them are homeless, and I like showing that they are important enough to me to want to look nice and professional for them. This is just my own thing, and doesn’t apply to anyone else. The PA who trained and mentored me used to practice medicine in an old sweater and a pair of cargo pants.
My income allows me to indulge my taste for tailored clothing, but my outlook is basically if you like it and it’s comfortable, wear it.
And to the guy in the OP who moans that not wearing a tie is unmasculine, I would just say, I look pretty good in a sport coat, dress slacks, and a nice mock-tee.
I have a fedora but never wear it for fear of looking like it's part of a costume. I do, however, wear an Irish walking hat similar to this:
That's not me BTW
For two hundred years the powdered wig was a signifier of purpose, self-discipline and authority. Even conformity. Yet these are now considered old-fashioned.
The powdered wig has been canceled and men just aren't men any more.
Save the powdered wig!
Gotta be pure satire
need their man card revoked. 
All that venom coming from guys who couldn't get laid in a brothel with $100 bills falling out of their pockets...
