MACRON STICKING WITH DRESS CODE
PARIS» That tie. He just won’t take it off, even when picking his way in sweltering heat through the rubble left by Hurricane Irma on the French Caribbean island of St. Martin.
President Emmanuel Macron has shaken French politics to its core but dares not breach the dress code for a French chief of state. The tie, preferably dark, is de rigueur.
King Willem-alexander of the Netherlands also flew to St. Martin to assess damage and display royal solidarity on the Dutch half of the island.
He wore a khaki-colored shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows — and no necktie.
“He’s a real king. He doesn’t need to post signs to show his stature,” said Jamil Dakhlia, a Sorbonne University sociologist specializing in political communications.
Macron donned a tie while campaigning and has kept it on ever since. As president, played tennis — sans vest but with a tie — from a wheelchair alongside disabled athletes to promote Paris’ bid to host the 2024 Olympics.