Empower your suit with a phallic symbol

In the constraining world of business dress, a tie is where one can most express his or her personality: whether stripes, solids, paisley, or polka dots (or the more outrageous piano necktie) all say something about the wearer. Even color matters; during the 2000 US presidential election, Al Gore wore power red while George W. Bush wore a more "compassionate conservative" light blue. And what power suit would be complete without the power tie to match?

Neck ties have a reputation as phallic symbols because they draw attention downwards towards the crotch. If that is true, what does it mean when a man wears a skinny tie versus a wider tie (don't even get me started on bow ties)? Semiotics fashion historians have correlated men's hat height to male power, i.e., in Abe Lincoln's time male dominance was asserted (Lincoln supposedly kept important letters inside his stove pipe hat). The answer may be simpler than that. The 1970s saw the rise of wider jacket lapels and shirt collars, so it would make sense that the ties would increase their girth to match.

Here Youtube member Meg Allan shows us how to make a holiday garland out of all those old neck ties.



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