To a person visiting from a place distant from modern society (say, some African tribesman that hasn’t met any westerners) much of our modern clothing would appear purposeless. This is not illogical; much of the pieces of clothing we wear are in fact items without a purpose from a functional perspective: what would the tribesman understand of high heel boots? or ornamental clothing? But surely the piece of clothing the tribesman would find the most bizarre is the tie.
And what is the tie? A tie is a piece of cloth that is tied in a weird fashion around one’s neck. It’s not worn for warmth. It is not worn for any functional explanation. Then why would anyone wear one? Good question.
I can envision the puzzled tribesman looking at his western counterpart who is dressed in a business attire and just wondering: “how do I tie a tie?” “Is tying a tie of any value?” “Why would anyone want to wear a bizarre piece of clothing like that?” and ending up with no answers. And to be entirely fair, all these questions make very good points! The value of a tie is utterly decorative, and the fact it’s deemed a crucial part of a man’s business attire originates purely from historical reasons.
Interestingly, to us novelty ties may seem like a weird invention. After all, they shouldn’t be used in any business event (which is where ties are normally worn), so why wear ties with cartoons or flashing lights? But to the tribesman certainly it would look as strange as an ordinary tie. In fact, he is far more likely to find some novelty ties practical – for example, those with the flashing lights – can serve a useful function as they provide light.
Oh, what a complex world we live in.