Do men still know how to tie a tie?
I opened the door at work and heard, “Can you tie a tie?”
My brain immediately brought me back to a few YouTube videos I had watched maybe four or five years before hand. I started to feel the embarrassment come over me.
I replied with a no. The lady turned to her coworkers and said something that that made me think for awhile.
“I guess it’s just a lost art today.”
She went on to explain that her son had an event to go to later in the day and no one in her office knew how to tie a tie. There were middle aged men in the office, but they didn’t even know how to do it.
This surprised me. Maybe I could cut myself from slack for not knowing, but surely these men would have this skill down pat. Alas, it seems it really is a lost art.
But why?
Is it because divorce is more common these days and fathers see their kids less? Is there just less of a need to wear ties? Maybe clip ons are most men's go to now a days.
In 2013, the most Googled “How-to” section was “How to tie a tie.” It seems as though little has changed since this time.
I would say that less jobs require men to wear a suit and tie today than in the past. In the 1950’s, all men wore a suite no matter where they went. It didn’t matter if it was to the grocery store or to the biggest interview of their lives.
Today, people often can be seen wearing pajamas at the store or flip flops with jeans. People wear what they want when they want. There is less social pressure to wear something professional.
As said earlier, most jobs do not require formal attire anymore. Grocery store employees can wear khakis and a polo. IT people can wear business casual. It’s mostly just financial institutions and company executives that still dress to impress.
Covid has made this more obvious. As remote work has become more popular, less people are needed to actually come into work. Again, this all lessens the need to wear a tie or have the ability to tie one yourself.
All the two or three ties that I own always stayed tied. They have been tied for years and I only loosen the knot to take it off and tighten it to put it on. I never take the knot out because I couldn’t tie it again.
I would say this ability definitely qualifies as a lost art today. There have been a few of the more masculine skills that have vanished as of late. I will probably touch on more of them later.
