“And today, the tie goes back on” said my friend through his Facebook post.  Yep, now that summer is coming to an end, it’s time to look “professional” again and add the tie to the ensemble.  But what is it about a tie that makes people think “professional”?  It’s like heels for women.  Who decided that putting a chunk of something on the heel of a shoe to make a person taller signified a dressier or more professional appearance?  Why on the shoes and not on my head or something?

So I discovered we can blame King Louis XIII of France for this silly tie thing, because he  just happened to notice that the Croatian soldiers he hired wore them as part of their uniform.  Hence, the name “Cravate” was born.  It has taken on many forms since then, long and short, fat and skinny, but they all symbolize things like genteel birth, social rank, coming of age, a blind following of tradition, power and success.  So today, 400 years or so later, men still wear this skinny little piece of cloth tied around their necks, usually with a suit to dress to impress.  Some things never change.

So many times our perception of professionalism is based on how a person dresses.  Unless you’re Steve Jobs and then, well, turtlenecks were a thing.  For the longest time, if a woman wanted to be perceived to be as powerful or as important as a man in the corporate world, she wore a masculine suit.  Just look at Scully in The X-Files as her suits evolved during the series.  My hope is that, unless your job/profession requires you to wear a uniform, women who want to can wear something more feminine and still be considered professional.  And that leads me to dresses.

At the company my youngest son works for, women are required to wear skirts or dresses.  No pants.  It is what they consider professional.  It takes me straight back to 1968 at West End Elementary School in Aurora Colorado where even in the dead of winter we had to wear dresses or skirts to school.  We could wear pants underneath, but the minute we got to school, they had to be off. Anyway, I digress.  I don’t know about the heels part where he works – I haven’t asked.  Anyway, who decided that putting high heels on a shoe makes an outfit professional?  Perhaps someone who has never had to wear them?  I get how they make your legs look longer and build up your calf muscles, but men can look professional in flat shoes, so why not women?  Is it so we can be taller to stand beside men?  Just asking….

Which leads me to teachers.  In the old days, it was required that teachers dress professionally, just like any other profession.  I often wonder if the the demise of respect for teachers began at the same time as the demise of our professional wardrobes.  We say it doesn’t ‘matter what we wear – I can still do my job wearing whatever and I shouldn’t be judged for that. However, if the teacher at my school is wearing the same thing that the guy at the fast food restaurant down the road is wearing, it might be harder to not treat them the same.  Not that you shouldn’t respect everyone, but in terms of whether someone is a professional or not, do the clothes make the man – I mean – teacher?

I’m an elementary music teacher, so yes, it is much more comfortable working with children in something that gives a little bit, something I can get on the floor with or chase an errant student around the room with.  High heels just don’t work, as witnessed when a former principal kicked off her shoes before she ran after a “runner” in bare feet and a suit.  Something more “business casual” tends to be more practical.  But what we end up with in a lot of cases is more casual than business and I’m just as guilty as any other teacher.  It’s much easier for me to throw on cropped pants or jeans, sandals and a t-shirt (without writing, unless it’s a “school” t-shirt) than it is to dress up.  Of course, this might be the reason the parents at my school refer to me by my first name instead of Mrs. Bush.

I’ve often heard the saying that we shouldn’t dress for the position or job we’re in but for the position we want.  What do my clothes tell people I want?  Is what I’m wearing matching my future goals?  Does it matter?  First impressions count, so when I meet that new parent and student, what do they think of me when they look at me?  Am I professional or not?  Was my friend more professional today than he was yesterday?  Maybe he was able to tie up more loose ends today while wearing his tie.