Suit and Tie: Why Do We Associate Them with Authority and Experience?

A tie is a noose at one end and an arrow pointed toward your genitals at the other. A symbol that your masculinity is conditional on your acceptance of the stranglehold that the system has on you. The suit frames the image of the noose and the arrow, affirming your acceptance of this control and your willingness to conform.

Or maybe it's just a "look how rich I am" convention that nobody cares enough to challenge and I made that up as I went along.

 

The tie as we know it originated in the 17th century. It was brought prominence by Croatian mercenaries that used a piece of cloth tied around their necks to keep their coat closed. The French King at the time (the guy who had hired the mercenaries) liked the look an made it a thing that people had to wear at court (because it was cool and because he wanted to honour the mercenaries).

The trend grew from there, but did not become formalized to the way we think of ties until about 1900 or so.

As it grew out of court wear, it was adopted by the growing middle class and certainly carried meaning.

Today? The meaning of a tie has been largely (but not completely) stripped of this sort of meaning. The fact that the vast majority of business people don't even wear them these days should give some indication of the weight a tie bears in this day and age.

I wear bow ties and ties because I like the way they look. I am pretty sure that if everyone in this office (or in the many offices in the area where I work) were wearing suits and ties, I would find something else to wear.

Fashion is as empty of meaning in the modern world as just about anything else that postmodernism has shat out. Pastiche is the norm.

 

I can appreciate that context is everything and that working in DC is going to be different from working in Brooklyn which is different again from Singapore.

There is also a difference between these types of suits. I feel that many here are talking about the first two, while I am talking about the latter two.

 

At almost 40, I'm only just getting comfortable in a suit. I think I was too self consious to the implied authority of the suit. I guess I feel old enough to be "worthy". Now I just have to work up the courage to take my cheap, off the rack suits to a tailor.

Speaking of first impressions, there's nothing like an ill-fitting suit to blow your cover.

 

The second row's advantage is in functionality. Higher cut armholes allow you to move around with much less restriction and without the suit body pulling after your bicep, while the waistcoat lets you keep your shirt and tie under control and maintain a formal look even after taking your jacket off.

 

I don't think of them as costumes, but uniforms. But isn't everything? Even so called cliques or groups are wearing a uniform. Even what you work out in. A punk with a mohawk is wearing his clans uniform. Trench coat mafia loners, business people, old people, etc... Look at the kids with the basketball jerseys and the baseball caps turned sideways. Now its a flat brim instead of the rolled and shaped brim. It may be ugly, (and I mean fucking retarded looking), but for them its a style.

 

I'm one of those suit guys.

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Wow, a lot of repressed suit hate up in here. Like most threads, it probably says more about the individuals than the topic itself. The wrapping can't compensate for a shitty product, but great wrapping on a great product? The point.

Every man should own one good suit and be able to crack the Double Windsor knot, if only for weddings and funerals. It's up there with being able to change a flat tire, do pullups and operate a rifle.

Esoteric knowledge is a lot of the bullshit trivia people memorize as a part of their job. Wearing a suit is general purpose knowledge for many of those that have business outside the US.

Show up to a meeting in London, Munich or Dubai in your 3 Wolf Moon t-shirt and baggy man-capris... your MENSA membership means nothing: you look like a child.

A quiet, well-dressed dummy will get farther in life than a garrulous, Cheetos-encrusted rocket doctor. See every dating thread ever on this forum.

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You associate suits and ties with authority and experience because they have been adopted as the universal business uniform across the globe. And because you're a total slob.

Those of us that had the pleasure of serving in the military understand the game: It's designed to create order with stratification in the workplace. Drones, leaders.

If you're in an office where it's business casual (or just business sloppy), the guy in the suit is probably in charge of everybody, for better or worse.

Suits have tiers as well. Being able to spot the Level 97 Peacock in a sea of Men's Wearhouse at a function is useful at times.

I know it's America and it's all avant-garde to dress like dogshit when you're a rich genius, but that's just silly.

Knowing your job + physical fitness + decent suit = baddest motherfucker in the room. Simple math.

I've been to developing nations where men wear suits just to go to dinner with friends.

 

Would you believe I've seen him in concert? Once in a lifetime experience. He was clad in this fantastic purple sharkskin suit that--from the right angle--could likely be seen from space.

Did it give him authority?

You bet your ass it did.

 

It does depend on where you are.
My oldest daughter handles large loans for the largest Alaskan credit union.
She'll tell you that some of the richest people, who own big companies, look the most like hobos.
Like I said that's up here.
You couldn't get away with that in NJ which is why I probably didn't fit in all that well.

 

I'm pretty sure that the authority owed to a suit's wearer is communicated by how shiny the suit is, and this is how I know that NFL commentators are the most authoritative people in the world.