Even Tie-Makers Have Stopped Wearing Them

American men have been ditching their business-attire neckwear for a decade; now even tie-makers are getting in on the open-collars revolution, reports the Wall Street Journal. The industry association for US tiemakers, hit by the double-whammy of foreign competition and casual Mondays through Fridays, is calling it quits this week. And tie-makers aren't wearing their own wares, even in public.

"We make ties for other people so we don't have to wear them," quipped the co-CEO of one line, when found by a Journal reporter in his Stamford, Conn., office in shorts, flip-flops, and a polo shirt. And last year designer Tom Ford launched his new luxury menswear line—which includes $195 silk ties—tieless. "It was giving me a migraine," he explained. "You can wear a tailored suit without a tie and look sexy, too." Just 6% of men wore ties to work every day last year. (More neckties stories.)