Conservatism and Fogeyism: An Insignificant Rant

There’s a close connection between political and aesthetic inclinations. In practice, the development of a political identity is only partly conditioned by views on specific issues: it’s also an expression of what sort of person one wants to be. So it’s not surprising that younger conservatives, especially in and around universities, tend also to be what the English call “young  fogeys”.  Respect for an ordered society and traditional ways of life often goes along with the affectation of old-fashioned dress, speech, and mannerisms.

I like to think that my own days of Waugh/Wodehouse cultism are done. But I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of the young-fogey nerve when I read that the 21 Club is lifting its necktie-requirement , which is apparently the last in New York. I’m not going to argue that it’s a sign of the decline of West or anything. Still, I’ve never been able to understand the devoted resistance of the American male to dressing with some small measure of care and elegance.

One restaurateur quoted in the piece points out that men once wore powdered wigs—a practice we now regard as absurd (although we mightn’t if we were as lousy as your average 18th century chap). And it’s true that there’s nothing essential about a length of silk knotted around one’s neck. The problem is, while Europeans have developed more modern ways of dressing well, Americans seem think an open neck licenses them to turn out like overgrown toddlers. At best, they wear “corporate causal” gear that makes almost everyone over 30 look like an obese caddy.

So I ask, more seriously than I’d like to, whether it’s it really such an imposition. Come on dudes, put on a tie! As it happens, I’ll be in New York this weekend on other business. Who is with me for a tie-in at 21? We can Windsor-knot ourselves to the bar until they bring back the old rule.