Smart necktie advice for formal occasions
SIR – Wynne Weston-Davies (Letters, January 19) refers to the strain placed on the top button of a shirt by tying one’s tie with the collar raised. He suggests that no gentleman over the age of 50 would tie his necktie in that manner.
On the contrary, the advantage of such a method is that one is actually able to do up the top button while the collar is more flexible. This is particularly the case when the collar size is marginal. Roger Gullen
Walkern, Hertfordshire
SIR – I have been tying my tie for 75 years in the manner of which Mr Weston-Davies disapproves. I wear one almost every day – even for gardening. I am sure that a majority of tie-wearers who own collarattached shirts knot their ties in situ and then turn down the collar, adjusting both as necessary. Peter Strangeways
Sutton Veny, Wiltshire
SIR – I have not experienced any rumpling of the collar when tying my tie. Perhaps it depends upon the shirt. The only adjustment I make is a final tightening to ensure that the knot sits snugly and in the centre.
What I do find odd is the widespread practice of not actually fully completing the knot. This results in an overlarge loose lump of material at the neck – more unsightly, I suspect, than a mere rumple. Jack Rees
Pamber Heath, Hampshire
SIR – Mr Weston-Davies quite rightly points out that John Profumo would have worn a collar-detached shirt in the early Sixties.
Additionally, no gentleman of the time would have had a suit made with a zip on his trousers. Fly buttons were the order of the day, and continued to be so until relatively recent times. It may well be that, in the light of the Profumo affair, a method of doing up one’s trousers in the fastest way possible became desirable; in any case, watching an actor attaching his collar and doing up trouser buttons slows down the action. In such circumstances, anachronisms may ( just) be tolerable. Nicholas Young London W13