The well-dressed businessman can in no way do without a tie.
It is matching colors and a perfect knot, no compromises! It is worth taking a
look behind the scenes: how did the strange custom of wearing a narrow ribbon
around the neck come about? Why is this tradition still valid today for the man
of the world?
The Romans already knew a similar version of the tie as
we know it today.
At that time, however, he still had an understandable
purpose. Speakers protected their sensitive throats from hoarseness, and
soldiers expected adequate protection against sword blows from deadly
opponents.
Even in the centuries that followed, the button had not
yet been invented;
the narrow ribbons woven into knots served a good cause.
Shirts and blouses for women and men are closed at the neck with this collar.
Soldiers in a Croatian regiment finally refined the art of
ribbon-tying into an elegant solution during the Thirty Years' War. Ruler Louis
XIV of France was very fond of this knot, and the tie was found in the fashion
of the French court.
Over the years, the look and shape of the tie changed to
its current version as a long tie.
The ideal way of
tying and wearing has been regulated, and almost nothing has changed about it
in the last hundred years. Different variations of fashion came and went, there
were hardly any significant changes. A rule that has been around ever since
dictates the hand's width between the end of a tie and a man's belt or
waistband.
But just as important as the right tie and the perfect
knot are, of course,
the tie's color,
pattern, and material. The well-groomed man chooses his connection to match a
shirt, suit or jacket and trousers and suit the occasion.
The question of why ties are still worn today remains
unanswered.
Fashion is subject to
many changes; how could that little piece of fabric be held so stubbornly
around the neck? The tie does not protect against a sore throat, and the fear
of a sword blow is not a sufficient reason. But it may be effortless. This
necklace has never seduced women, not even business women's outfits. Thus, the
tie remains an exclusively male garment.