The unwary can also fall foul of transatlantic differences. The stripes of a traditional British club tie are higher on the left-hand side, moving down diagonally to the right – but in the United States where Brooks Brothers does a roaring trade in the British look the stripes are cut in the opposite way. English club men wandering through Manhattan are known to be responsible for several cases of mistaken identity.
Some ties appear regularly at certain times of the year. The first day of a Lords “Test” match will bring out MCC ties all over London as wearers broadcast the message on their way to work that they have no intention of staying in the office much past 10:30am so that they can be at the ground in time for an 11:00am start. At other major sporting events, the members of the clubs involved (the All England Club for Wimbledon tennis or the Royal & Ancient for the Open golf) will don their ties as a matter of course, attracting sometimes envious looks from those outside these privileged elites.
Occasions on which there is no getting out of wearing a tie (a formal wedding, for instance) are especially interesting for students of this sartorial art. Such events evoke in people a desire to wear the tie of which they are most proud, a decision which speaks volumes about the individual if observers have inside knowledge of the options that might have been discarded.
Old Etonians tend to look upon their own tie as superior to anything else in the neckwear line and interestingly eschew club ties as a class if they are not wearing their own. The tie of the Hawks’ Club (the Cambridge sporting club) is seen much more frequently than that of its Oxford counterpart, the Vincent’s. Perhaps that is because the latter can be confused with the Royal Navy by those who cannot remember whether the crown on such a tie should be silver or gold.
Ties, of course, can be used to good advantage in tight situations. The late Robert Warren, Executive Editor of the News of the World, would when called upon to defend his paper in court in defamation cases wear his “Wavy Navy” (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve) tie. He was confident that the judge in question, and possibly some of the jury, would take note and realize that Robert, known for many years as “the Admiral,” had been prepared to lay down his life in the service of Queen and country.
There are many other opportunites for ties to make a positive impression, notably at job interviews. Thorough research can establish the antecedents of a particular interviewer, prompting a shrewd interviewee to pick a tie that demonstrates shared allegiance to school, university or sporting institution.
The joy of multiple club membership, another characteristic of the British sporting classes, can produce odd results when it comes to ties. The story goes that four famous cricket clubs were competing one weekend in the English county of Kent – the Eton Ramblers against I Zingari on the Saturday and the Free Foresters against the Butterflies on the Sunday. One might assume that 44 people (four teams of 11) were involved – but while there were 44 ties (and cricket sweaters) on display over the two days the fixtures in fact only required 22 players. It was simply a matter of everyone changing their allegiance (and tie) from one day to the next.
What of the future? Some say the younger generation, who often decline to wear ties at all, are no longer interested in neckwear as a form of personal communication. We will see. The recent increase in the sale of “school” and “club” socks is perhaps a sign of a new trend in Britain to display social and sporting affiliations on the ankle.
Read Corporate tie etiquette
James Furber is Senior Partner of Farrer & Co, a law firm based in London. He is eligible to wear the ties of the Old Westminsters, Gonville and Caius College (striped, coat of arms and summer order), the Cambridge Hawks’ Club, the Old Stymies’ golfing society (Cambridge), Farrers’ Sporting, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Royal St George’s Golf Club (stripes and crest), Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, Royal Blackheath Golf Club, Old Westminster Golfing Society, London Solicitors’ Golfing Society, Company of Farrer Golfers (striped and crested), Estates Golfing Society, The Oystercatchers, TAGS, Duchy of Cornwall and Barts Hospital Golden Oldies. Despite this extensive wardrobe he also enjoys the informality of an open-necked shirt.