Suit and tie: why so much hatred? – Carte Blanche to Mathieu

I have to explain to you, I am doing an internship at BonneGueule, and I come from a school which trains senior civil servants who are now disappearing .

When I arrived at BonneGueule, I saw right away that I wasn't going to keep up with the editorial team. At the Roland-Garros of style, I'm the Thierry Champion compared to the Sampras, Nadal, Federer and Djoko of men's fashion that make up the happy Bonne Gueule troupe.

No matter, I told myself that I would focus on something that I know – besides eco topics – to wear on a daily basis: the suit and tie!!! More particularly, on the symbol that this garment conveys.

First of all, I think we can distinguish two types of men : those who like to wear suits and ties and who can show off at weddings, birthdays and all kinds of parties, and those who are forced to wear them for professional reasons, willingly or unwillingly. When the two are combined, it's bingo, life is beautiful.

If there is one thing that struck me at BonneGueule, it is the place of the suit and tie: tiny.

I quickly came to wonder if it still had a future. Because yes, I can say it after having turned up at parties after work, having had job interviews, having broached the subject with my family, the suit and tie has its "haters" . They are everywhere, numerous and they attack you at the slightest bit of tie that sticks out.

THE SUIT AND TIE, THIS UNLOVED...

A brief look back at the origins of the suit and tie will not hurt, to have a clear idea of ​​this opposition that was born almost as soon as the suit and tie made its first imitators. From the 1850s, the suit and tie quickly established itself in Europe and the United States, then in the 1890s in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The era was one of the development of ready-to-wear, and to allow this standardization, men's clothing had to be much less fitted. We therefore gradually abandoned the frock coat for the suit jacket which was looser. Very quickly, this suit and tie became, in just a few decades, the symbol of modernity, then embodied by the West.

Many countries, notably Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912), Atatürk's Turkey (1923-1932), or Afghanistan, chose to reform their society and imposed the suit and tie on their civil servants, to show their connection to the world, their modernity.

On the contrary, societies that will oppose the West, especially during the Cold War, will impose another type of costume, such as the famous Mao collar in China, or even in Iran where the Revolutionary Guards cut ties. Even more obvious in the former Zaire where Mobutu imposed the "Abacost" clothing doctrine in the 1970s.

So already, the suit and tie appears to be a point of division between capitalists and others and quickly becomes a political object with its supporters and opponents.

At the same time, it is a sign of virility, of success in a world of constant growth but also of independence. Thus, a whole part of the colonized population seizes this costume to claim a status of full citizen.

This is also the case for Western women in the 1920s who wore the costume to claim equal status with men. It is therefore also an object of demands. As Manuel Charpy, a CNRS historian specializing in the subject , says, "there have always been power relations around this garment, which can be the marker of influence or adhesion, of rebellion or conformism even today."

In the middle of the 20th century, the suit and tie gradually became the symbol of administration and office life. And so we quickly hated it, synonymous with monotony, boredom: the penguins, the little grey men, the penguins. It was Jean-Guy from COGIP who invited you to eat brandade in the canteen with his WTF pattern tie.

Several artists have made it the symbol of a uniform world, which restricts originality, like Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Tati or more recently The Office with Steve Carrel. (To learn more about fashion in cinema, click here .)

Even hippies have started to go against this clothing straitjacket, by dressing in drapery or even living naked, on love and fresh water. I recommend the cult film (a personal taste, eh) "Les babas cools" with Christian Clavier immersed in a community next to which he breaks down... in a suit and tie.

There was indeed a revival in the 80s with the wave of yuppies (young urban professionals: traders, executives, salespeople, consultants) who wanted to do away with the outdated image of the "white collar" and project a chic and cool image, but this brief trend seems to be well behind us.

While it symbolized the independent man, it is now rather imposed on subordinates (bartenders, security guards, administrators) while the "casual chic" style is now imposed almost everywhere. And then also, Zuckerberg and Bill Gates have done it a lot of harm, by appearing alongside the powerful of this world in sneakers/t-shirts.

Beyond historical trends, another major element for suit and tie haters: comfort . Climate change, you take it head on in the face especially on line 2 of the Paris metro in July in a suit and tie +. And then there is also the famous too-tight knot, the collar that irritates the neck after shaving. Why do they inflict this on us?

Today, I have a strange feeling when I wear a suit and tie : a sort of acceptance of the fact that it is has-been while we are all talking about terraces, teleworking and gardening far from urban centers.

But at the same time, I feel that it has not said its last word . We will always be delighted to wear it for big occasions or important moments at work, to think about our tie, our cufflinks, our pocket square, before putting on the suit. But a real dusting off is necessary.

So no, you will not have my hatred, you, detractors of the suit and tie, I will take my revenge sooner or later even if it means convincing, in the weeks I have left, BonneGueule to get involved in this.