Maybe. Last week, the UKs Cabinet Secretary Andrew Turnbull openly welcomed a tieless era. He hinted that civil servants would soon be free of the costliest 12 inches of fabric that most men ever buy in their lives.

　　In fact， Blair showed this attitude when he had his first guests to a cocktail party. Many of them were celebrities （知名人士） without ties， which would have been unimaginable even in the recent past.

　　For some more conservative British, the tie is a must for proper appearance. Earlier, Labor leader Jim Callaghan said he would have died rather than have his children seen in public without a tie. For people like Callaghan, the tic; was a sign of being complete, of showing respect. Men were supposed to wear a tie when going to church, to work in the office, to a party - almost every social occasion.

But today, people have begun to accept a casual style even for formal occasions.

　　The origin of the tie is tricky. It started as something called simply a band. The term could mean anything around a mans neck. It appeared in finer ways in the 1630s. Frenchmen showed a love of this particular fashion statement. Their neckwear （颈饰） impressed Charles II， the king of England who was exiled （流放） to France at that time. When he returned to England in 1660， he brought this new fashion item along with him.

　　It wasnt, however, until the late 18th century that fancy young men introduced a more colorful, flowing piece of cloth that eventually became known as the tie. Then, clubs, military institutions and schools began to use colored and patterned ties to indicate the wearers membership in the late 19th century. After that, the tie became a necessary item of clothing for British gentlemen.

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