Q. I was at a party with international guests. A gentleman came up to me and asked if I were wearing a regimental tie. I didn't know what he meant, but from what came up in a Google search of the term, it is about its being striped. Should I literally be from a certain military group to wear this?
A. There is indeed a history to these striped ties across the pond, but it does not have the same meaning in the United States. While this "old-school tie" way of thinking in the United Kingdom may be hard for Americans to believe, the British can be very strict about some of their traditional proprieties. As an example, I doubt you would ever hear of an event in Great Britain where guests were invited to dress in "creative black tie." Such deviation from the "correct" rules just would not do. This helps explain why so many men throughout the world take their how-to-dress guidelines from clothes sold on London's Saville Row.
Interestingly, there is even a major difference in whether the necktie's diagonal stripes go up toward the left or up to the right. British regimental ties are said to be "cut to the heart," that is, the stripes come up to the left; American striped ties come up to the right. While working on this question and watching President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech the other night, I could not help but notice the many, many striped ties on government leaders, all going in the same American direction.
In Europe, though the younger generation seems to pay a bit less attention than was done in the past, you can see that the regimental tie issue still stands pretty firm. Occasionally, at an art exhibition, for example, you might find a group of men discussing their regiment. The tie was the thing that introduced them to each other.
Because we have no such rigid rules, a lot of Americans unknowingly wear the tie of a particular regiment and have no clue they are committing a British social faux pas. But then, neither do others who see them. It is hard to imagine how many of these authentic regimental stripes exist. Some of them can be found online from Ben Silver of Charleston (BenSilver.com). I was surprised to learn that the company also stocks a small group of American ties under the "American Patriotic" category. One is the authentic stripe of the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets). The black-and-forest-green stripe comes in a long (four-in-hand) tie and a bow tie. I'm sure you don't have to have any Green Beret credentials to wear it.
Although styles change slightly from season to season, American necktie counters are always full of stripes. But even within this category, striped ties have thousands of permutations: Wide stripes, narrow stripes, bold stripes, subtle stripes, two-color, multi-colored, diagonal stripes, and occasionally, horizontal stripes. Specific striped-tie categories include:
• Repp: A ribbed-silk fabric, although the term is commonly used to describe a diagonally striped tie.
• Regimental stripes: A solid background color with narrow bands of two or three colors alternating the length of the tie.
• University stripes: Woven of a silk ribbed fabric with equally wide bands of two colors.
In truth, Americans do not make distinctions. All stripes are safe bets for business and social wear.
In addition, you will find variations in quality, in price, in weight and type of fabric, and in shades of colors. Even so, ask any man which is his favorite from among the striped ties in his closet and he will have one that he wears very often. Maybe he likes its colors or he finds it goes with more of his clothes or he can count on it to tie a better knot. In any case, he wears it to death and eventually it wears out. When it does, he may have a devil of a time finding the perfect replacement ... in England or in America.
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Lois.Fenton@prodigy.net
High Profile on 02/01/2015