skirtcafe.org

Neckties make excellent gores for a skirt!

Neck ties. I have not worn one for work since 1994 when I decided to work for myself and started to break male traditional expectations of dress code.

I was pressured by friends and family at funerals and weddings but in 1998 I started moving into to skirts, tops and cardigans that society say are not for men but by then women had full access to the male wardrobe. My resistance to the expectation of men grew and grew and by 2010 my "female" skirt wearing and tops came out to family and friends as by then for some years I never even wore a tie even for weddings and funerals. I'm sure the last time I wore a tie at all was 2003! Since 2011 I am only in skirts, tops and cardigans (society says female only clothes) except for my self employment which is open necked shirt and trousers - due to the nature of my job - but never, ever a neck tie. All ties have gone, I keep it as a museum piece.

Ties restrict air movement! Just like trousers.

O.K. but must ask how does a tie restrict air movement unless it's tight to ligature proportions?
I still agree with CR Friend that they can still be used as an accessory to enhance the overall look, personally, I haven't tried that yet, but it's on the agenda.
Steve.

TheSkirtedMan wrote:Since 2011 I am only in skirts, tops and cardigans (society says female only clothes) except for my self employment which is open necked shirt and trousers - due to the nature of my job - but never, ever a neck tie.

Try telling Mr. Rogers that cardigans are "female only". If you do, I suspect he'll "show you something in the fish-tank".

STEVIE wrote:I still agree with CR Friend that they can still be used as an accessory to enhance the overall look, personally, I haven't tried that yet, but it's on the agenda.

I'll quite likely be wearing a neck-tie to work along with a skirt just to f*** with little minds on my last few days at the place. It's always nice to hear the speech patterns stutter as the sand gets in their little mental gears.

STEVIE wrote:O.K. but must ask how does a tie restrict air movement unless it's tight to ligature proportions?

The same as trousers do in the lower half of the body which many skirt wearers refer to in preference to trousers. A buttoned up shirt to the neck with the addition of a tie is more restrictive than an open shirt or T-shirt

crfriend wrote:

TheSkirtedMan wrote:Since 2011 I am only in skirts, tops and cardigans (society says female only clothes) except for my self employment which is open necked shirt and trousers - due to the nature of my job - but never, ever a neck tie.

Try telling Mr. Rogers that cardigans are "female only". If you do, I suspect he'll "show you something in the fish-tank".

It wasn't just cardigans but skirts and tops mentioned as well. It was a generalised word. How many women do you see in jumpers.

TheSkirtedMan wrote:A buttoned up shirt to the neck with the addition of a tie is more restrictive than an open shirt or T-shirt

T-shirts are appropriate for uber-casual wear only (and where's a ruddy umlaut when I need one!) and nowhere else. T-shirts, to my mind, represent the ultimate of grunge wear; like flip-flop sandals it's the bottom of the bottom -- appropriate only in private circumstances or "on the beach" where nothing seems to matter. Get 50 yards off the beach, however, and it's a new ballgame altogether.

Dress shirts with ties do not have to be constricting, and I will assert that anybody who says they are hasn't looked at modern shirt offerings. Many modern shirts offer elastic closures at the neck (a bit of an engineering marvel, mind) and there is no dictum that one must knot his necktie so it strangles him.

I still assert that the necktie is a useful and sometimes powerful accessory when it comes to a man's wardrobe.

It's been a long time since I've had to wear a necktie but I never minded it. I bought shirts with a large-enough neck size not to scratch and that was that. At the time, wearing a tie identified me as a professional and I certainly didn't mind that.

Then again, now that I don't have to wear a necktie, I don't exactly wear one just for fun.

I have said all I need to say on the subject of neckties, however----

crfriend wrote: (and where's a ruddy umlaut when I need one!)

I have to heartily concur with that plea. Older windows fonts had a particularly tedious way of applying umlauts, but this has, seemingly, disappeared from the modern W7. I am a luddite and want an easy keyboard. I wonder if Euro keyboards have the vowels with extra ones and, do the German ones have an easy way to use that "ss" which is unique to them and, I think, Sweden.

Umlauts and other accents are dead easy on my phone! As well as plain boring old A, it offers me à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ and ą, though I confess I have no idea which languages use half of them. And it has the German ß as well. However I think I read recently that the committee of professors who preside over the German language have decided to do away with ß and switch to the universally recognised ss. I find that a little sad.

Caultron wrote:At the time, wearing a tie identified me as a professional and I certainly didn't mind that.

I'm wearing one right now, likely the first time in months that I have -- and it's not constricting at all. The trick is to get shirts that fit.

Many years ago I was working as a shipping/receiving clerk. I wanted to advance to a salesman position so I started wearing slacks and a shirt and tie. I got the sales job. I also found that I was treated with more respect outside the workplace when I was wearing a tie.
Don't get me wrong, I detest the things and wouldn't wear one now for any reason. I'm just saying they have their place in todays world.

The last time I wore a tie was about 1996. There isn't a shirt on the planet that is comfortable with a necktie attached to it. I don't like Mandarin collars either - I want a scoop neck - or a V neck - so I can breathe! And be able to display a necklace or two. Neckties just look silly - at best. I certainly am not particularly inclined to show more respect to a tie wearer - it shows their mentality.

Zorba wrote:I certainly am not particularly inclined to show more respect to a tie wearer - it shows their mentality.

Ouch. I wore a necktie today to fiddle with the little minds in Management at work.

Rig: black dress shirt, black skirt, black waistcoat, black shoes, flesh-coloured knee-highs, and a red petticoat to fill the skirt out and to occasionally flash a bit of colour. Necktie: 1980s vintage London Underground pattern complete with station names and whatnot.

As far as wearing the thing as a "noose" goes, I can put all four fingers of either hand betwixt the shirt collar and my neck without even getting it particularly tight. Neckties do not have to be garrotes.