11 March 2014

This apparently is referred to as an "air tie"

With the maddening economy of expression that denotes so much American-issue savoir faire, the curious "statelessness" of a shirt worn buttoned to the top, but sans any form of neckwear, has finally been christened – in tribute to that curious act of self-expression represented by the playing of an invisible guitar – the "air tie"...

Talking Heads frontman David Byrne famously went large with the look (going larger still with the Japanese No-style big suit) while director David Lynch [above] has arguably made it his own; an iconoclast without equal, he’s become, albeit without the accompanying pyrotechnics, a veritable Hendrix of the air tie...

But if you’re planning on joining the trend, you’re going to need a snug-fitting (but not to the point of strangulation) semi-spread collar and a little more interest in the suit jacket than might otherwise be deemed necessary in its more traditional guise as a simple framing device for the chest and head. Certainly, a peaked lapel would work well, as would a pocket square. After all, if you’re heading out tie-less and buttoned-up, you’re going to need something else on which the eye can fall, to add detail, and create a distraction from that bald, gleaming button fastened just below your Adam’s apple...
Further discussion at The Telegraph (when the image, cropped for size).

1 comment:

  1. "Air tie" is rather a silly choice of terms, but the "style" has needed a name in our household to facilitate discussion of it. Yes, we've actually talked about it, haha. I first became aware of it through The Mentalist...Simon Baker's character wears a three-piece suit with no tie. My husband even decided to steal his look last Saturday for a wedding. Definitely like it with a vest...surprised they didn't mention it, unless it's in the full article. Guess I'll go read that!

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