American Politicians Have Declared ‘the Necktie Is Dead’. In Perth, It Never Lived. We Wore a Fleece to Our Own Wedding
US midterm candidates are ditching ties. Our style columnist says Perthshire got there decades ago.
A necktie on a hanger, where most of Perth's ties have spent their lives. Photo: Wolfmann, “German occupation of Norway during WW2 SD Gestapo SS-Hauptscharfuhrer uniform office maps arrestee dagger phones handcuffs mannequin etc Arquebus krigshistorisk museum 2020 No known copyright restrictions 07915”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
US midterm candidates have apparently decided that “the necktie is dead”, and are campaigning in open shirts to look relaxed and normal.
I would like to welcome America to Perthshire, where the tie was declared dead around 1985 and buried at the back of the wardrobe with a Rangers-Celtic programme and a single cufflink.
The average Perth man owns one tie. It is black. It goes to funerals, weddings and court. It has been tied once, by his mother, in 1994, and has been slipped on and off over his head like a lasso ever since, with the knot never undone.
Smart dress in Perth is a quarter-zip jumper. Very smart is a quarter-zip jumper with a shirt collar showing. Black tie is the same, but you’ve ironed it.
American candidates, you will find, are not the first to discover that voters trust a man in a fleece. In Perth, we would trust a man in a fleece with our lives. We would trust a man in a fleece with our car keys. We would not trust a man in a tie with a raffle ticket.
The necktie is dead. Long live the fleece.
The real story: US midterm candidates' style (BBC News)
Letters to the Editor
The views expressed are those of the reader, and frankly that's on them.
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I’ve worn a tie to every wedding since 1978. I’ve loosened it at every wedding since 1978, by 4pm.
— Gordon T., North Muirton, 1 November 2026 -
My husband got married in a kilt. No tie, plenty of breeze. Best day of his life.
— Patricia H., Kinross, 1 November 2026
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