A Case for Wearing a Knit Tie

Scott Schuman always says that clothing is a medium of personal expression. If that is the case, it means one dresses as much for oneself as for the others. Through our choice of clothes, ultimately, we strive to signal certain particularities about ourselves to the person who is seeing or interacting with us.

Then what kind of a message does a normal tie convey? As a corollary to the sense of formality that such clothing accessory evokes, it tends to raise a certain shield between you and your counterpart. It is as if the words that the other person saying would immediately reflect back on the shiny silk of your tie before it even reaches you.

In contrast, I find the rugged surface of knit ties to be warm and absorbing. The cosy uncle-like quality aside, these ties quietly gesture a refuge, air to breath—someone with whom you can talk to and trust amidst the sea of social normativity for silky superficiality.