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| Sunday, 18 September 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Tying the
knot:
Not rocket science after all by Lionel Wijesiri Believe me. Even today, I do not seem to understand why I never thought about it seriously. Yes - for over 25 years I have been doing an odd manoeuvre at least five times a week without ever thinking why I am really doing it. The enlightenment came only last Monday. I was dressing for work that morning and it so happened that all of a sudden I could not help laughing at myself before taking my eyes off the mirror. Inspired by what I saw in the mirror, I asked myself "why am I wearing this funny piece of cloth around my neck? Am I just following the tradition of my colleagues? Or, is it because it is a part of office attire?" Tying the windpipe Then I took a long, hard look at my necktie and I was more than convinced that it's a really weird item. "If I act practically", I thought, "I may be able to blow my nose with it." But that would be considered crude among my circle of subordinates and business colleagues. My nephew who is an ENT surgeon once told me that my neck is where the air passes through to the body and back and tying something around my windpipe would definitely be non-conducive to my well-being. Yet, 600 million of men went through the symbolic act of strangling themselves every morning, tying a coloured cloth around their windpipes. I could not understand the logic of it. What has happened to all of us? My niece who is also a medical physician believed it to be a symbol of respectability and reliability. According to her theory, crooks and incompetents did not wear ties. "Maybe she was right," I thought to myself, "besides, being useful against colds, stiff necks and toothaches, a necktie enables one to know more about the person who is wearing it". The solution for my brainteaser came from unexpected quarters. One Saturday afternoon, I was browsing through some used old books inside a pavement hawker's tiny bookstall, and voila! There it was - a copy of worn out, dog-eared book La Grande Historie de la Cravate by Francoise Chaile. The story of the necktie was very succinctly described in the book. Let me share with you a few interesting facts. History says It seems that the earliest known version of the necktie has been found in the massive mausoleum of China's first Emperor, Shih Huang Ti, who was buried in 210 B.C. Desperately afraid of death, the Emperor wanted to slaughter an entire army to accompany him into the next world. His advisers ultimately persuaded him to take life-size replicas of the soldiers instead. The result was one of the marvels of the ancient world. Unearthed in 1974 near the ancient capital city of Xian, the tomb contained an astonishing 7,500 life-size terracotta replicas of Shih Huang Ti's famed fighting force. Legions of officers, soldiers, archers and horsemen, all carved in meticulous detail, guard the Emperor's sarcophagus. The armour, uniforms, hair, and facial expressions of the soldiers are reproduced in exquisite detail. Each figure is different - except in one respect: All wear neck cloths. Then we go forward 323 years. In 113 A.D., one of Rome's greatest Emperors, Trajan, who lived in what is now Romania, erected a marble column to commemorate a triumphant victory over the Dacia and Mesopotamia. The 2,500 realistic figures on the column sport no less than three different styles of neckwear. These include shorter versions of the modern necktie; cloth worn around the neck and tucked into armour; and knotted hankerchiefs reminiscent of cowboy bandannas. Fast forward another thirteen centuries and we go to 1635, when Croats initiated one influential event the consequences of which are still very much evident the world over. Croatian style These Croats aroused interest because of the traditional picturesque scarves tied around their necks in a distinctive manner. The scarves were made of various clothes, ranging from coarse material for common soldiers, to fine cotton and silk for officers. This elegant "Croatian style" immediately enamoured the French, who were delighted by the new article of clothing, which until then had been completely unknown in Europe. This new innovation symbolised the height of culture and elegance. Over the next two decades, this fashion novelty spread across Europe, as well as across the colonies on the American continent. Art museums throughout the U.S. and Europe are full of paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries showing generals, politicians, and aristocrats resplendent in their lace cravats. Look at a modern tie today. Although they come in all sorts of styles, there are relatively few knots in common use today. This is a far cry from early 19th century, when fashion manuals illustrated 32 ways to tie a cravat. Today the four-in-hand knot is virtually the standard in the USA. The more complex, Windsor (invented by the Duke of Windsor), and the half Windsor, are more popular in UK and Europe. Pratt Knot, the latest knot was unveiled with great ceremony in 1989 by New York Times. Sri Lankan tie-guys decided not to wait another century for the New York Times to reveal the next tie knot, but went out looking for it via their own typical imagination - and they discovered (in my opinion, at least) ten new indigenous ways to knot your tie. They are typically local and no names are allocated and cannot be seen anywhere outside Sri Lanka. Congratulations: You see, it is not rocket science after all. |
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