Maree’s musings 

TIES that BIND

  Recent news coverage, to coin a phrase, about garb that people are gadding about in has proved entertaining. My interest was sparked by the carry-on in Parliament when new member Rawiri Waititi turned up without a standard issue tie, wearing a hei-tiki instead. [It’s part of] Maori business attire – he said – not a colonial noose. Cultural dress apparently included his ten-gallon hat. I thought to ask why, but that’s another story. Wearing a hat inside is not illegal, but goes against common courtesy, and the cowboy connection, should there be one, is a bit scarey. 

His party colleague, interestingly, was wearing a tie; though as she’s a woman, that’s OK. Ties for women became A Thing over a century ago with ladies not wanting to be tied down by traditional views of femininity. The next day we saw other versions including a Mexican bolo. Fortunately a small law change solved the tie issue but ‘suitable business attire’ legislation continues to lurk.

Strict dress codes dog our (possibly) well-heeled footsteps everywhere. They are often racist, classist and even gendist (I made that up). Back in Parliament; you’ll recall former PM Helen Clark wearing trousers, which turned a few hairs: now our Jacinda thinks nothing of it and neither do we. 

Transgender Georgina Beyer wore dresses; nobody objected. It’s very likely today, that our rainbow representatives will get down to business way better wearing whatever they choose. Then there’s people of different cultures who may want to wear a hijab, a fez, a turban or a kilt; and not be bound by arbitrary and irrelevant laws.

Recently, our Stephen Adams – I look up to him (pun!) – was quizzed in an interview on his ‘minimalist’ wardrobe. His explanation?  ‘[It’s] Kiwi culture, a NZ thing .. where if it does the job, it does the job. .. Nobody gives a rat’s arse about the luxury side.’

 Curious, I spent some time down a  google rabbithole and discovered that in December 2019; after being obliged at a team ‘suit night’ to wear a suit [and the complete package … including a tie!], he was heard to say ‘Next time I wear a suit is at my funeral’. Matching headgear was a herringbone cap, replacing his favourite: a fuzzy camo-print hunter’s hat with earmuffs. He complained about the time it took .. ‘a lot of buttons, a lot of weird little things’. I wager he got back into his t-shirt and tracks as soon as he could.

During lockdown [dare I mention it?] there were sometimes hilarious clips of zoom participants decked out in a shirt, that tie! and … undies!, forgetting that camera angles may be unreliable. But did their work skills suffer along with their cred? I think not. And when you think about it, productivity and achievement are what matter. You might as well be comfortable, not tied down by tradition.

ps: Those that enjoy a bit of history will find ‘A twisted history of neckties’ penned in 1999 by John Mathews (www.washingtonpost.com) great reading.