From a cardiologist’s hands to a $10 Bloomingdale’s score: Why I still wear a tie in a t-shirt world.
Memories of a lifetime spent dressed up, from college pledging to Lincoln Center.
These days, most people no longer wear ties. I wear them for religious services and for shows at Lincoln Center. As a subscriber of the New York Philharmonic, I attend shows there and in other theaters at this venue.
I remember when I worked for the American Institute of CPAs’ media relations team and wrote the board report highlighting our news coverage. It was great because it was full of stories appearing in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Dow Jones newswires, and the key accounting trade rags covering the profession. All I did was hand it out in the boardroom. Sometimes I sat through a few sessions of the meeting. I always wore a tie. Some of the board members did; some didn’t. They used to tease each other and say CPAs don’t wear ties.
Anyway, because of that, a few of us on the communications team created “the tie game.” We wore ties to work every day—even though we didn’t have to. We made a chart documenting who was and wasn’t wearing them. This went on for nearly a year. I wore one every day and was crowned the tie champion.
When I pledged Tau Epsilon Phi (TEP) at New Paltz, we had to wear a purple tie and pique polo shirt almost daily. The frat’s colors are purple and white. We also had to carry and place a Raisin Man on our desks. It was fun.
Before entering college, I probably wore a tie fewer than ten times in my life. My father would tie it around my neck. I am still surprised he didn’t accidentally strangle me (he would never purposely do it). Not knowing what to do and worried about my pledge status, I called my mom, a nurse. She got me a purple tie and had the cardiologist she worked with tie the tie around his own neck. He took it off, handed it to her, and she mailed it to me at New Paltz. I put it on and became a member of the frat.
Years later, my office was across the street from Staten Island’s YMCA on Richmond Avenue. One of the kids who worked there was someone I knew from Scouting. Sometimes he’d stop by and say hi.
Once, he came in and was holding a tie. He explained he had an interview and had no idea how to tie it. I did it for him. He was thankful—so thankful that he came back a few more times for more help. I was happy to return the favor I once needed myself.
As for wearing ties, my birthday was a few weeks ago. I got my birthday reward card from Bloomingdale’s. I browsed its website and guess what I ordered? Yep, I am sure you guessed it. I bought a tie. The list price was $78. With birthday and other Bloomingdale’s rewards, it came out to just $10.10. I wore it two weeks ago, and again last Saturday.
A year or so ago, I spent time in Milan and Palermo. I found beautiful handmade Italian ties.
Stay tied.
