Ties

Got some interesting traditional angler's clothing you want to talk about.
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Champ
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Re: Ties

Post by Champ »

Here you go Chaps... :D . http://www.thechap.net

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Santiago
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Re: Ties

Post by Santiago »

Weyfarer

Bigfish has a fishing punt and locates at Sonning On Thames!!!! Nobody punts around there anymore, only Bigfish!!!! And he does not wear a tie whilst fishing and neither does any of his compatriots. Only wear them for weddings, funerals, and job interviews. In Academia the not wearing of a tie signifies that you are an expert in your field and so do not have to dress to please or influence,ie., only the lackies wear ties if they do not have to for work. A tie is just a phallic symbol, only worn to make up for what the angler might lack in other departments, a bit like a hat in Texas!!! Moreover, Bigfish would look silly wearing a tie whilst all covered in slime from a nights bream fishing!!!
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

Hemingway

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Julian
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Re: Ties

Post by Julian »

Ties appear to be the most pointless item of clothing.
If you think about it all the other main items of clothing serve , generally , a practical purpose,
wheras the tie just hangs there, sometimes getting in the way.
What is also odd is while for a suit , shirt, shoes, coat, etc its generally accepted that colours and designs should be
fairly plain and subdued, at least for work, when it comes to ties it appears that every colour and design imaginable is OK.
Although I worked in an office for many years I still managed to avoid wearing a tie for most
of the last 15 years.
Wearing a tie to go fishing, to me, seems really pointless.
There is no peace on earth like the peace of fishing in the early mornings

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Vole
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Re: Ties

Post by Vole »

Coarse angling was essentially a working-class pastime, though a few toffs did dabble, and sometimes became extremely good* - and the garb was the seasonal outdoor kit of the ordinary man. The modern version would probably be the JJB Sports (?) track-suit; this would follow the tradition, but probably make us all shudder. Rum, that.

In office life, ties (and socks, if you want to look really "out there" (Out WHERE, for Pete's sake?)) are the only bits of clothing with which you can express yourself, so people do. They may well give too much away; there have probably been theses written on the peacock neckwear of the insecure.

I like Bendsomecane's comment in the original post, about the wearing of a tie being respectful - to the quarry, I presume, to the sport itself, and to those we meet along the way; but if circumstances reduce me (as appears may soon be the case for us all) to fishing in a saggy pullover and a Pacamac, as in days of old, or their modern equivalents, I shall only wince a little as I don whatever come to hand, and fish when I can.

That's the trouble with this forum; the easily led won't know whether to save up for brass goggles, moustache wax, or a cravat; or to just lurk in the charity shops until something catches the eye.
Complex, diverse and contradictory bunch, aren't we?

*Yes, I'm feeding Ron (welcome to the forum, Ron, lots of comfy chairs, and the cyber-kettle's always on), but we could have a couple of good threads out of it!
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.

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Watermole+
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Re: Ties

Post by Watermole+ »

I've been thinking for a while now, about whether-or-not to answer this post. It seems that the general opinion of a tie-wearer is that, he is a 'lackie' (whatever that is), a 'toff', something to do with 'servitude', it smacks of 'class' (whatever that is), is totally 'pointless' and is something generally not done except by a few of the 'old school' who like to go fishing for hideously expensive salmon or sea trout. Wow! What a reaction! ..But why? Surely it is the prerogative of any person domicile in this 'free' country to dress how he-or she-pleases, providing it is within the law and doesn't cross the bounds of common decency?
That being the case, then the same person has a basic democratic right to a freedom of choice-and that includes choice of dress.

In this day and age, many choose to appear as if they had just got up. It is true to say that those people choose to appear so and have little, if any regard for their appearance, both to themselves or how they may appear to others. I might not condone it, but I do not condemn them for it because it is their choice, not mine.
When my family escaped to Great Britain in 1939, we looked up to those around us-and rightly so. Everyone had and held basic standards and everyone-even those of considered low station, tried to aspire to better things. We were taught to look up, always strive to do better and improve yourself where possible-starting with appearance!

I have just been looking at a fishing magazine from over 50 years ago. There is a picture of the worthy winner of a fishing match, somewhere in the north of England. The man is crouching by his keepnet, a large roach in each hand and wearing a huge grin! He is also wearing a large cap, old gabardine raincoat and a tie!
In another book, there is a picture of a long-gone, engine shed. The crew are preparing their locomotive for duty. The driver, who is filling the oil-cups, is wearing bib-and-brace overalls, grease top cap, has polished lace-up shoes and a tie.
Neither of these departed gentlemen were toffs, snobs, lackies or anything else other than honest folks who in their own ways, tried to look up. They didn't have to wear ties, they simply chose to.

I also wear a tie. I have also worked on the shop floor in factories for over 52 years and am still doing so-and wear a tie every day. Nobody tells me to, in fact-as you may well have guessed-there are often good-humoured jokes about it, but it matters not because that is my choice, I feel comfortable with it and will continue to do so whenever possible-and that includes fishing.

To me, fishing is something very special because it is; more so now than ever before. There is nothing more exciting than the anticipation of a day somewhere and so there is always a sense of occasion and it just seems fitting to make the effort to look tidy for it-and that includes the wearing of a clean shirt (of subdued colour) and my favourite tie. Not to impress anyone whom I may meet or for any other reason other than personal choice.

We are all what we are and no-one else has the right to tie labels on us..

..but we do have the right to tie labels-or ties on ourselves! :wink:

Rant over!

With regards,

wm+

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Yet one of them shall not fall without your Father knoweth" ..Jesus of Nazareth, King James AV

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Mark
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Re: Ties

Post by Mark »

Well said wm+ :hat:
Mark (Administrator)

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where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).

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The VFC
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Re: Ties

Post by The VFC »

Hear hear WM+ - I too had been letting this thread pass unanswered, though finding it occasionally frustrating. If freedom is to have any meaning as a word or concept then it must apply to all equally: therefore freedom to wear a tie (even an old school/ club/ regimental one!) as much as freedom to not do so. Even freedom to talk about yourself in the third person if that's your thing! Looking down on someone for wearing a tie is as bad as the tie-wearers of old looking down on those who didn't for me. I know Vole was only jesting really - but some of the other posts carried a similar undercurrent or overt "anti-posh" message. I try to take all as I find them and hope that they do the same for me - even if I turn up in a Norfolk jacket etc. as suggested above! Julian's point about pointlessness (pun intended) is a different one - but if we only ever concentrated on what has a "point" in life it would be a much duller place I think: no art, no music, no writings of BB.... since the main point of these is to bring happiness: much as wearing a tie does for the angler who chooses to!

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Vole
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Re: Ties

Post by Vole »

Perhaps I should have filled in a gap or two in my first paragraph: coarse angling was a working class pastime, in the main; the garb was the working man's outdoor set-up, and, which I failed to emphasise, this included polished shoes and a tie. The tie was universal; as a schoolboy, I felt naked without one well into the 1960's. Unless the weather was hot, when it became a pointless instrument of torture and symbol of oppression... albeit one that could be easily removed (if one hadn't got the knot wrong). And the shoes had to be polished, to keep the water out and help them last longer. Expensive things, were shoes.

What we learn first, we tend to think is truest... I remember finding that a supply teacher had told my class that food reached the large intestine before the small one; I almost had to disembowel a passing first-former to convince them otherwise. Thank Heavens for well-illustrated textbooks, eh?

And what we wear first will always feel special. Maybe liberating, empowering, maybe oppressive and drab, maybe peacocky and smart, but more so than any later garb until the first wardrobe we buy with our own hard-earned dosh.

So, given a comfortable collar and a cool day, I'll never feel uncomfortable in a tie, though I seldom actively seek one out. I'm from that era when the tie was just starting to lose its stranglehold, as 'twere. Men a few years older will probably feel more comfortable with a tie than without; those just a bit younger may never have worn one since school, except for funerals and interviews.

Fashions change, that's all; a chap walking down any high street in the country, from Kensington to Kennington, in the doublet and hose that were all the rage in Raleigh's day, would draw hoots of derision today; and as for a cod-piece, ruff and powdered periwig...it might be wise to carry an invitation to a themed party.

Of course, we all want to be leaders of fashion sometimes, or to make some sort of statement; isn't it great that one of our strongest traditions is the freedom to do so. Its taken religious persecution, the theft of the land from under our forbears' feet, the grim social struggles of two (at least) industrial revolutions, a great depression and two world wars to get it, but now we have it. If you want to fish in a pastel yellow tutu, tweed knickers and a burkha, that's your right. A mistake, perhaps, but a right. Ain't life paradoxical?
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.

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Snape
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Re: Ties

Post by Snape »

To throw a cat among the pigeons - what do we think about cravats as an open necked alternative? :hide:
“Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers,” Herbert Hoover.
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸ ><((((º>

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Vole
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Re: Ties

Post by Vole »

Well, it's your right and prerogative... they're very comfortable, and hint at the formality of a tie but with swashbuckling tendencies. They also used to have high camp associations. I don't know if this applied equally to cravats knotted or with both ends passed through one of those spiral woggle-type things.
If you can leave the scene in a classic two-seater or a Tiger Moth, then fine; if you cycle home from the pub then the groundlings' sense of style (!) might be sufficiently provoked to be awkward.
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.

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