Win, Lose or Tie

Josh Elliott on ABC News wears his necktie to do the Good Morning America show, but by 2 pm when he's on Good Afternoon America, he doffs the tie and goes open-neck.

Tony Pann was doing the weekend weather last weekend when it was about 106° (but it FELT LIKE 166°!) so he did away with the tie, too.

Ray Romano had some hilarious jokes on Letterman the other night.  No tie, but a suit jacket, just like Josh and Tony.

I am usually the last to pick up on sartorial trends, having only recently disposed of my Nehru jacket and love beads, baby. So was I out of the room the day the words came down from Fashion Central that said neckties are optional for guys - but you still need the daggone sports jacket or suitcoat?

It really doesn't help one to cool down, leaving the jacket on.  So maybe that's not the point.  Would you feel better hearing the news being read by a guy in a tie? Does wrapping 75 dollars worth of silk around the old windpipe add credibility?

Once again, I was born too soon, because when I accepted a high-level position (grocery clerk p/t) with the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in high school, we had to wear a white shirt every day and a tie and dress slacks. White shirt, although you could get away with wearing a t-shirt with a Rat Fink iron-on ironed on to it, underneath the white shirt.  And for years, I wore the same tie almost every time: a club tie with tiny insignia of a little boy taking a whiz all over it.  I mean, pictures of a little boy were all over the tie, and the little boy pictured was actively making water at the time. He wasn't tinkling on the tie. He was some sort of prince from Belgium and he got lost in the woods and his father, the King, said that he would commission a statue of his darling son, showing him doing whatever he was doing when he was found. 

At least, that's what the guy at Jos. A Bank told me when he sold me the tie!  Do you think that's why Josh, Tony and Ray left their necks open and dry?