The only suits in the room were the Associate Minister of Transport, James Meagar, and the Mayor of Nelson, Nick Smith, and they both wore ties.
How times have changed. Way back, I understood there was a continuum of dress code starting from formal – suit, tie, white shirt and black shoes, and everyone looked the same. This could be stepped up to a bow tie and formal dinner suit for special occasions.
Some who go on cruise ships rejoice in the opportunity to get dressed up and show all the finery. There is not much chance with the range of personalities and backgrounds of the delegates of NZAA Conference accepting the notion of a strictly formal dress code.
The dress code continuum then moves to “business casual”, where a bloke might ditch the tie, and add a bit of colour and flair in the jacket and slacks while still looking professional and business-like.
That continuum then becomes blurred from “smart casual”, to “casual”, and that, is where the challenge arises. In many wardrobes there is less separation between working clothes, weekend clothes and going out clothes. The experts say, there are two golden rules. “Firstly, don’t offend anybody, and secondly, cleanliness is foremost.”
That is what we saw at the conference. A variety of interpretations of what smart casual really means, but an acceptance that personalities differ, everyone is relaxed and no one is offended.
This seems to predispose the demise of the necktie, and I’m sad about that. Covid seems to have ushered in the era where people can meet together via “Teams” or “Zoom” and accept that they are meeting from their home environment, and whatever they wear at home is okay. That level of informality has morphed back in the return to the workplace, and the recognition, that we can still be productive without a corporate dress code.
I look in my wardrobe with about 70 ties there, and I see history. I see the tie I got married in, and the various corporate ties from the three different owners of the company I worked for.
I see ties from various occasions and corporate partners. There is an increasing variety of colours and comfort about what I wear around my neck and how that defines an evolving personality.
At one stage I bought several clan ties based on my Scottish and Irish heritage and I wore these with pride. There is even a tie in the shape of a bottle of Guinness,
which a friend gave me after a trip to Dublin. That gift came with a comment “Will you wear it?” “Of course,” I replied, and it tickled my fancy to walk the streets and hear the comment “Nice tie, mate.”
For some, the necktie was a requirement of work. Its demise is fine if that is the reason for wearing it. For others, though, there is a unique opportunity to show respect for yourself, for others and for the occasion, as well as allowing for personal style expression. That little piece of cloth can say a lot about the person wearing it.
Smart casual can mean what you want it to mean, with or without a necktie.
