Better Dead than Red (Power Tie)

Readers of Walking the Berkshires and those who know me in person know how little attention I generally   pay to the world of men's fashion.  True, like most men with facial hair I am keenly aware of how it works - or doesn't - on the faces of others as well as my own.  If we were peacocks we'd be checking out each other's tails.  But aside from that, my own wardrobe trends toward jeans and safari cloth, with something to wear to funerals and formal business meetings and that's about it.

But being an observant fellow, I have noticed a trend in American politics away from the aggressive Reagan-era red power tie toward a cool and sophisticated blue.  Today's photo-op of President Bush with President Elect Obama is a classic example of this new chief executive style.  In fact, president Bush has been favoring blue ties for some time now - some are calling his fashion legacy - and Obama often dispenses with neck wear altogether, which very well may become his.

How did this come to pass?  What is it about red power ties that had members of both parties dutifully knotting up their Scarlet half Windsors in the 1980s, and seems today as dated in American politics as the double wide "Barney Miller" ties of the 1970s?  Herewith, a photo-mosaic, courtesy of a quick Google image search.  Feel free to free associate:    

Now there are so many matters of great import and substance requiring strong and decisive leadership today that it would be rash indeed to favor one candidate over another based on the one item of men's fashion apparel that makes the most dramatic statement.  Still, this sort of scrutiny is how our society treats women seeking advancement and high office, so why not the alpha male?

Style over substance, perhaps.  But McCain might have taken a cue from the pale blue Prez before trotting out on the hustings in tired bureaucrat drab.  Or from those who dressed his own running mate, whose glamor made him seem more like an accessory (after the fact).   Would a nice powder blue silk tie have made the difference?  Or a Mandela shirt?  Hey, the first candidate Clinton borrowed a jazzy tie from Arsenio Hall before blowing sax for the late night crowd.  Politicians gotta do what it takes...

More: I don't know how I failed to make the connection the first time around, but on reflection it occurs to me that G.W.'s pale blue has a presidential prededent from the other G.W.: our first Commander-in-Chief.  Washington wore a silk sash in that color as a badge of rank, as this action figure from Sideshow Collectibles accurately portrays!  Red is for Redcoats, Blue for Whigs. Case closed.

Comments

[designer tie]

I guess wearing a red tie lets you emanate this authoritative aura, that you got the people under your command, whereas a blue tie gives you both power and humility at the same time. Red is such a strong color to being with, and blue is regal but calm, so I guess it depends on the style of leadership the wearer of the tie is practicing.

- Cliff Spears

[Jeanne]

Ha ha ha! Brilliant. I've always been fascinated by the changing concept of the power tie - I rememebr in the early 1990s when any sort of equestrian bridle motif was de rigeur - now they've disappeared altogether. My father seems to have made an accidental sartorial comeback with his cupboard full of stiped 1970s ties ;-)

Thanks v much for the weblog awards nomination btw! I was completely unaware of the event till I saw the link in my stats and found your very kind nomination.

[Sissy Willis]

Wonderful post. Your discovery of the first GW's precedent warms my heart. Some related thoughts from my 2006 blogpost "A Blue-tie State of the Union":

"Trust is the biggest issue out there today," said Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Color Institute. "The human mind connects blue with the elements of nature that are always there and never go away: the sky and sea. It's the color that invokes feelings of loyalty, steadfastness, constants. It's the believability factor."

"It's not that red isn't a power color anymore, but blue has overtaken it. Red has an exciting connotation but can also be connected with bloodshed and danger." In times of war and national anxiety, she said, "Blue is a much better choice."

More here: http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2006/02/_she_who_laughs.html

[Fred]

I don't think that what are commonly referred to as "f*ck me" shoes imply the sort of "power" generally sought after in a president or vice president. One of MANY mistakes in the presentation of McCain's running mate.

[TulipGirl]

Palin's fab red heels with conservative black suits? The female equivalent of the power tie, imo.

[The Thomas]

My best Red power tie has Bob the Tomato on it.

[pst314]

"the aggressive Reagan-era red power tie"

That's a rather odd association, considering that the red power tie predates the Reagan era.

[Scott]

At the end of the last decade it was gold ties.

[Martin Langeland]

All else relatively equal I vote for the one without a tie.
Antequated folderol, sez me.
--ml