And the winner is...... it's a tie!

We live in a very relaxed environment these days and the poor old tie is suffering as a result. Back in the 70's the industry sold between 200 & 250 MILLION ties per year! Nowadays it is much less and wearing a tie has become a statement in itself.

Personally I love to see a sharp suit with a good quality well made tie as the final addition to the ensemble. Nothing speaks more about style and class than a tie.

Every day as I walk around the streets of London I see 'smart' businessmen confidently walking down the road, mobile phone glued to their ear, wearing a slim fit suit, invariably in an electric blue fabric, trousers clinging to their legs like clingfilm on a wet turkey, jacket fitted so close and short that they start to resemble Norman Wisdom. I have a little chuckle to myself at what it must be like to be young and trendy!

The one thing that separates them from Mr Wisdom is that Norman always, a,ways wore a tie! No matter how wrong he looked in his ill fitting suit no one could accuse him of not making an effort because that is exactly what a tie says about you. "I have made a real effort today to look as smart as I can and as presentable as I can be to whoever I am meeting with today!"

Maybe I am getting old and I don't profess to wearing a tie all the time, in fact I think a relaxed open necked look can be perfect in the right situation but if you really want to make the best impression to your boss, your customer, your employees......your date! Go the extra mile and put a nice tie on with that suit. I guarantee you that someone will mention how smart you look. Try it, you'll see I am right.

It doesn't have to be loud or flamboyant, like the Mr Bond pic here it is subtle yet classy. Are you young guys telling me you're not impressed by this look?

If you want to make a statement the perfect way is via your choice of tie, the colour, width, and way you tie the knot will speak volumes about your personality and help you exude confidence but be careful not to go too loud when wearing one for a meeting or interview (see below)

Now this looks fabulous but if you turned up for an interview like this I might think you are a little flash. However if you walked into a nice restaurant or wore it to a function you would immediately attract the attention of others in the room both male and female who will all admire your classy look and may even be envious that they don't come up to scratch.

So you see the humble tie really is the key to your image, he is like the base player in the band, you don't really appreciate him until he is gone!