Blame it on casual Fridays: The Men's Dress Furnishings Association, a trade group that represented American tie and dress shirt makers for 60 years, shut its doors earlier this month. A casualty of both casual dress codes and competition from overseas manufacturers, the tie group's demise came just before Father's Day.

"Yes, the tie business is down," Thomas Hinson, manager of George Gibson's Men's Wear, told the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald. "Businesses overall have gone to business casual attire with a feeling that it increased productivity."

A Gallup poll conducted in fall 2007 showed that "between 2002 and 2007, the number of men wearing ties to work everyday went from 10 percent to 6 percent," according to the story. (Gallup likely didn't get skinny-tie fan Justin Timberlake or your Olive Garden server on the line.)

Tina Stoecker, AIFD, PFCI, president of Designs of the Times Florist in Melbourne, Fla., says ties are increasingly not a fashion design of these times.

"Casual dress has definitely hit Florida, although [in general] our weather dictates fewer suits," she says. "There are some companies that are still 'suits,' but the majority go to casual polos." 

And florists may likewise see the trend in their bridal business, as wedding boutonnières may more and more be attached to less formal garb: Last February the Memphis Commercial Appeal called brown suits the "it" look for grooms, but at less formal affairs, some men are trading suits and tuxes for khakis and swimming trunks, Stoecker says.

"Due to our proximity to the ocean, we do several destination weddings with no boutonnieres because the groom and ushers are in casual attire," she says.

-- Mary Westbrook
mwestbrook@safnow.org

 

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