To silk necktie or not to tie?

MUNCIE -- Once upon a time, the traditional gift of choice for Dad on Father's Day was a necktie.

These days?

It's knot, er, not.

"A lot of the traditions we've had are gone," said Max Ford, owner of Ford Men's Wear, with just a trace of regret.

Since clothing styles became more relaxed in the 1990s, he continued, Father's Day gifts have been largely dedicated to recreation or projects around the house, meaning the silk necktie as a present has given way to a Lowe's gift card or fancy putter.

"It's geared more to outdoor activities than what Dad's going to wear to work," he said of the trend, offering this telling tale from a recent Sunshine Rotary Club meeting here at which Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke. "Out of 100 men there, probably only 25 had a coat and tie on. Even the governor didn't have a coat and tie on."

Still, Ford remains an ardent fan of the silk necktie.

"A tie is a statement," he said. "You feel better and you feel different when you wear one. ... From a dress-up standpoint, I don't see how you can replace it."

The fact is, deep down inside, every guy knows that's true, as Ford was recently reminded when a kid walked inside his store with a personal request.

"He wanted me to tie his tie, because he couldn't figure out how to do it," Ford said, recalling the young fellow admitted he had spent time planted in front of youtube.com, trying to learn how, but hadn't managed it.

Of course, the inability to tie a perfect Windsor knot isn't the serious problem it used to be.

Once, it relegated you to clip-on ties, which were pretty much the height of gauche.

Now, stop-gap ties called "zippers" come with ready-made knots that you simply cinch tight, looking for all the world like a regular silk necktie.

"It has a decent Windsor," Ford admitted.

Still, nothing beats the real thing.

If you decide to embrace lost tradition and buy Dad a Father's Day necktie from Ford, you'll spend between $25 and $47, in general.

The lower price range will buy him a nice polyester one. Move up and you get varying degrees of silk, as well as that certain classy look and feel.

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