Chris: What does a presidential tie look like? I think Trump's ties are awful, but is that simply a reflection of my abhorrence for the man? Can you select a world leader based on tie alone? Let's find out -- but be warned, you won't be able to look at certain politicians the same way.
(There are larger issues at stake here, and I think this very frank video by Marco Rubio is a decent summary of current US problems. But this post isn't about politics, so on to the ties!)
world's biggest diplomatic necktie analysis?
I've taken the top google image results for prominent Anglosphere political figures and cropped the images that include neck wear (or the lack thereof). To keep things tractable, I've skipped Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Our contestants:
- US Presidents: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton
- US Candidates: Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders (Hillary Clinton doesn't wear ties)
- UK Prime Ministers: David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair
- Canadian Prime Ministers: Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, Paul Martin
Guess the politician
Hint: they're each from a different person. By the end of the article, this will be a cinch (heh).
The Anglosphere Collection
Barack Obama
Sharp, with a variety of styles, knots, and dimples. Obama's ties show sprezzatura: tie dimples are crisp if present, but sometimes askew. He also wears a fair number of grey ties. Obama consistently wears a US flag pin after its absence caused a political scuffle (I kid you not) during his 2008 campaign.
Bernie Sanders
Consistently casual. About five ties worn with low-key outfits. Sanders only wears button-down collars, and prefers solid blue or blue pinstripes to white. Check out his next interview, and you'll probably find him wearing one of the combinations below.
Sanders also always wears a gold pin, which is apparently issued to congressmen as some sort of low-key ID badge. If he were to get the Democratic nomination, this would likely become a serious issue during the general election. But I think we can all grant this: Sanders' dress is consistent, and it matches his unassuming personality and blue-collar message.
Edit: the week after I wrote this, Sanders started wearing shirts without a button-down collar. Coincidence?
Bill Clinton
One cool cat. With the widest variety of bold colors, warm colors, patterns, and knot styles, Clinton definitely has the sharpest look of anyone on this list. He generally prefers patterns to solids, has relatively few dimples, possibly due to a larger and looser knot, and isn't afraid to wear really adventurous patterns. He eschews the US flag pin... and gets away with it.
David Cameron
Predictable, mild-mannered, and friendly. Or at least that's what his ties say: I know very little of the man. I think most of these are the same ties worn on different occasions. He's tying the same small asymmetric knot every time, although I can't tell if it's a four-in-hand: the ties consistently veer to Cameron's left.
Donald Trump
Aggressive, garish, and hardly self-aware. Trump's ties are frankly hideous. The knot has to be a Windsor or Pratt, but it's pulled so excessively tight that it wrinkles over itself and the tie comes boiling out underneath unevenly. Most ties have a dimple or they don't. With Trump, the only thing that's clear is that the tie is suffering. These knots look a bit like knotted small intestine (told you that you wouldn't be able to look at these politicians the same way). Maybe this style should be called the Trumpsor. At least the white collar is on-brand (a friend notes the sheen of these ties was probably on point in the '90s).
George W. Bush
Humble confidence. Do you need to buy Bush a Christmas present? If so, a red tie with light spots will do nicely. These are power ties all right, but there's nothing about them that's ostentatious, and the patterns tend to be fairly small and subtle. I don't see any clear "tell" that a tie belongs to Bush, as he uses a variety of knots pretty nicely. I think he favors the Windsor, but I see a few in there that are narrow or asymmetric.
Gordon Brown
Disheveled. That's unfortunately the single word that comes to mind. Brown's ties have no dimple, because they're simply too loose to hold a dimple in place. That looseness also causes the knots to sag or slip to the side. The untidiness extends to his collar points, which have rolled over in a few cases. The knots steal the show, and not in a good way, but at least his tie selection is more interesting than Cameron's.
Justin Trudeau
What!? I had to look up some back story here to understand what's going on. He's the only contestant with multiple top-30 photos that are shirtless, the only contestant with wingtip jacket lapels, the only candidate to frequently unbutton two buttons, and the only candidate with pinstripes on his jacket.
So he's got panache. Something about the full images reminds me of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne. Trudeau is the son of Pierre Trudeau, a previous prime minister, and successfully boxed against a conservative senator a few years ago. Well, that's one way to solve problems.
The ties are bold, flowery, and friendly, and the knots are generally really large. That is, if a shirt is even present. I can't see any UK politicians pulling this stunt.
Paul Martin
Low-key people's man. The only other contestant with button-down collars, Martin can be differentiated from Sanders by the lack of a lapel pin, the reliance on solid colored shirts, and the infrequency of a dimple. Otherwise the task would be impossible, as both Martin and Sanders have very similar tastes in ties: red and blue with small light patterns, generally set on point.
Stephen Harper
Normal. A bit like Bush, nothing about Harper's ties really strikes me as odd. I see a lot of Windsors, a few ties that are a bit loose, and a decent variety in patterns. You'll note the two red remembrance day poppies. Inspired by In Flanders Fields, a war poem on WWI, these are pretty common to see on Canadian and UK politicians.The photo with white flecks is an outdoor photo of Harper -- the only photo in the entire list including any kind of precipitation.
Tony Blair
Dignified. Blair makes adventurous tie selections, with a few ties lighter than the shirt he's wearing. I don't know that anyone can make that look good. But in general these ties are interesting and well tied. There's a strong contrast, in that Blair's tie knots are the narrowest and longest on this list, but he also uses very tall, wide collars. The other UK politicians favor tall collars as well, but Blair's combination of collar and tie is uniquely aristocratic. This probably matches the position well -- or at least far better than Brown's ties.
Final thoughts
There are a few things you simply won't see these politicians wearing frequently:
- A shirt and tie with no jacket. Unless you're aiming to look like a groomsman in a wedding, it's probably good to follow this rule yourself.
- Trick knots like the eldredge or trinity. Just say no.
- Bowties. Dr. Who would differ, but the data is clear. Bowties are not cool for world leaders. Time Lords and professors may get a pass.
- Bold shirt patterns: they drop the formality really fast and are hard to pair with a tie.
- Novel tie patterns. Only Clinton gets close on this one. Everyone else sticks to solids, stripes, or small spots, checks, or floral patterns.
- Odd clothing colors. There's very little green or brown. Perhaps these colors are more appropriate for park rangers, military uniforms, professors, and biology conferences.
Finally, my favorite tie, photo, and Anglosphere leader:
P.S. Answers for the first tie list: Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton, David Cameron, Donald Trump, Gordon Brown, Justin Trudeau, Tony Blair.