Recently, I googled why men wear ties. All the entries I found discussed the history of fashion and when men started wearing cravats in 18^th century France (or something to that effect.) I have my own theory.

A better question is, “Why do men wear ties, NOW?” I don’t think it’s tradition, dress codes or a vaguely veiled sexual reference.

Universally, men hate wearing ties. They are tight, uncomfortable, paired with stiff shirts. They are expensive, time-consuming to arrange and OH-so-likely to wind up in the ketchup of lunch’s hamburger.

That said, men still wear them, and they are considered a power move. But why? My theory is that ties draw attention up toward a man’s mouth. It makes it more likely that someone will listen to them.

Research shows that color matters, too. Power tie colors are either blue or red. Some color theorists say that red signals danger and encourages attention to detail. They also say that blue encourages creativity and familiarity. Just look at presidential debates in the modern era.

Are women at a disadvantage? Probably. Consider, too that men often have authoritative low voices.  I think women are wise to wear lipstick, jewelry or scarves. Anything to draw attention to the face. Atlanta networking maven Wendy Kinney, who founded PowerCore, is know for always wearing a hat. And she gets a lot of notice.

Fashion isn’t always about form. Sometimes it’s about function. I’ll keep wearing my lipstick and my sparkly costume jewelry.