It seems that ties are now a political

statement - or so our Prime Minister would have us believe. She has been talking in derogatory terms about "men in blue ties". 

Of course she means those men in the Opposition. Unfortunately for her however her Deputy frequently sports a blue tie - as do some other members of her team. 

The Senior Cat has a view about ties. He calls them "useless articles of male attire". He rarely wears one now. He still owns a number. He has a tie with his clan crest, a tie in his clan tartan, his university tie and a sober tie for formal occasions. There are a number of others there as well but they are unlikely ever to be worn again. He objects to wearing the others unless he absolutely must although he once wore one to work each day - along with a suit. 

My brother also wears a suit and tie to work. Like my father he owns a clan tie, a clan tartan tie, his university tie and - for work - some sober ties. 

My brother-in-law - not descended from the Scots - wears sober ties to work and refuses to wear them on any other occasion except the most formal of formal. My sister preserves one "good" one for him.

I remember my first boss - a psychologist in the Department of Education. He wore handknitted ties. They were made for him by a fellow psychologist. One was bright red, another grass green. He had several in different shades of brown. They were all, I think, made to the same pattern. The yarns were different.

One of my lecturers in law school had a tie with red stripes. He would pace up and down the lecture theatre and occasionally flick the tie over his shoulder. It was an unconscious gesture. He tried to stop doing it when told about it but, somehow, it interrupted the flow. Another wore the most amazing collection of ties. They were works of art in silk painted by his partner. One of them was bright pink with flowers never seen in nature. He must have liked it because he wore it often. 

I know too that ties can be ridiculously expensive and that they can come in different shapes and colours and that they can be made out of almost any sort of cloth. There are silk ties, cotton ties, linen ties, woollen ties, tweed ties, striped, checked, spotted, floral and patterned ties. Ties can tell those in the know where someone has been to school, or university, or the company or club they belong to. I know little of these things. 

I occasionally observe the ties of other men. They are often dull or disgraceful - and sometimes both dull and disgraceful. I am not sure why they bother to wear them.

However I suppose ties do tell you something about the men who wear them. Right at the moment though I cannot think of anyone I personally know who wears one of the pale blue ties the Prime Minister was so derogatory about. 

I am not sure just what that says about each of us.