It all started with a want to dress like they use to in the decades past. Dress like they did in Mad Man, a show based in the 1960s. There was a time in our field that there was a formal dress code, dress shirt, tie, and slacks was the official dress of an engineer. And even today you see the “old guard” of tradition at work, the guys that worked way back when and still dress like them. In a way I admire those guys because they have stuck with tradition and continue to do it today despite the changes at the workplace.

So fast forward to about 2 years ago. One day during lunch my coworkers and I were discussing how some people where dressing at work and started to reminisce of the days mentioned above. And we came up with the idea to start wearing ties on Tuesdays at work. We all felt a little hesitant to do alone so we banned together to wear our ties on Tuesday. The reason that it was difficult to just wear and not worry what others say was that the formal attire days were long gone at this point. Yes people do dress up on occasion but it was not normal practice to dress with a dress shirt and slacks, little lone wear a tie.

So with the three of us banned together and a deal of buying lunch for each other if the violating member decided not to wear their tie, we began. For the most part we did this on the honor system since we all didn’t work in the same department. I went a little further by taking a picture of me wearing a tie and then proceeding to take a detail shot of the tie. And posting and sharing those pictures on Instagram and Flickr.

And with nearly 2 years of wearing tie Tuesdays, it now has been commonplace to see me wear a tie every Tuesday no matter what. Yes there has been few times that I didn’t wear a tie but more often than not with the help of friends to make sure that I wear the tie, I always post a #tietuesday post on Instagram.  You can follow Tie Tuesdays and my other adventures at: http://www.instagram.com/olasis

Also in those 2 years there have been some nice combos and not so nice ones.  You know when your coworkers go, Wow (with that face expression, trust me you’ll know it), that the tie shirt color combo you thought was awesome was not so awesome in reality.  But you just go with it.

Wearing ties has been one of those things that I now declare as something I look forward too. It is the one day where I can “look good.” And when I look good, I feel good. There is something about dressing up that makes you feel good and puts you in a good mood. Having that tailored, clean cut look, definitely gets you stares ( good stares ) and compliments that I’m not use too but they are welcome.

So when it come down to it. Just go and do it. Dressing and presenting ourself appropriately definitely helps you in certain situations that without such presentation you wouldn’t have access to. Find your style, stick with it, but always be aware of wear you can evolve.

Here’s some stats:

All Photos: Taken with iPhone 4

Current number of Ties: 20

Current number of Bowties: 2

Current number of Weeks: 81 weeks

Check out the full set of photos here: Tie Tuesdays