In David Mamet’s delicious comedy State and Main (2000), Michael Higgins, who plays the small town doctor Wilson, has a brief conversation with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays scriptwriter White. It is about neckties: “the truth is you should never trust anybody wearing a bow tie” says Doc Wilson, who is wearing one; “a cravat (necktie) is supposed to point down, to accentuate the genitals; why do you want to trust somebody whose tie points out to accentuate his ears?” Mamet’s gift for comedy reflects on the shrinking symbolism of neckties in Western society. Times are changing quickly and so is everyday attire: a 2007 Gallup poll found that 67% of men never wear ties to work and I would assume that figure has increased today. In the United States, data shows that necktie sales have declined since the 1990s, even if some voices still contend that necktie wearing has not declined as much as people thinks. The question is whether wearing suit and tie today is still meaningful, necessary or sensible, even to reflect a certain economic or social status. One could look back to those black and white films from the 50s –Sterling Hayden, Bogart, Edward G. Robinson- where even the most miserable con man would perpetrate horrendous crimes perfectly dressed in his suit and tie, to realize how much we have changed. Next step is to convince our politicians not to take themselves so seriously and rethink their everyday attire.
