I am a realist. Sort of. At least far enough to admit that most men do not and likely will not wear a pocket square. But they should. I also realize that some men have a propensity to remove their ties after a day’s work; often for the commute home or some post-work drinking function. But the ride home the morning after is to me the most respectable time to remove one’s tie; well actually it’d be more just not putting it back on. At least then you’ve earned something; everyone worked a full day just like you, but not everyone didn’t make it home that night. There’s something righteous about taking the subway or cab home in the morning while watching everyone else head into work, sucks for them. So anyway, the dilemma as to what to do with said tie naturally arises.
There is the briefcase option, the car option or the leave it at the office option. But then if none of these are truly options, then what? A man is left only with his pockets and the breast pocket being the best option (see photo above). “Why not a pants pocket or inner jacket pocket?” You may ask. A pants pocket, in particular will have a higher chance of leaving your tie creased, it will also break any line your pants previously had. An inner jacket pocket will do the latter, but for the jacket. Lastly, with a breast pocket you’ll at least have something dressing your pocket (assuming you didn’t have a pocket square in).
As you can imagine, I don’t really support removing one’s tie (or the loosening of the knot and unbuttoning the top button tactic), but would be lying if I said I have never done it. The two primary reasons I advise against removing the tie is first, from the most traditional stance a man should always keep his tie tied; especially in the presence of a lady. Second, few men pull off wearing a jacket without a tie well so they are better served keeping the tie in its rightful place; tied around the neck (or you could pull some Christian Grey shit and tie your tie around some other things). So like most things, if you’re going to remove your tie do it at the right time and do it for the right reasons; don’t do it just to do it.
-JLJ
PS – sorry for the week long absence, I’ve been moving and then ventured to Vegas. You know how that goes…
