A slew of government ministers launched the initiative this week with a video, uploaded here on YouTube, with each ripping off his striped pink and maroon ties and undoing top buttons. Joaquin Lavin, minister of social development, for example, takes off his solid blue tie, and says he'll keep it off except for formal meetings.

The older generation might balk. A suit without a tie? How unfinished! But in men's fashion circles across the world, ideas for summer suits without ties abound.

And in many parts of Latin America, forget the tie. In fact, forget the suit altogether. Men in tropical climes have long opted for the practical and elegant guayabera shirt instead. In Mexico, many a groom has wed in this alternative.

Chile's authorities point out that they are taking a cue from Japan and Spain, where earlier no-tie initiatives were tried as energy-saving measures.

But those were not without controversy, as is recounted in this anecdote from Spain in an AP story.

Back in 2008, an industry minister appeared at Spain's parliament for a debate – without a tie. The nerve! The parliamentary speaker took offense and sent the minister a gift: a tie. But the minister refused to don it, and instead sent the speaker his own present: a digital thermometer (an apparent reference to the blasting air conditioning, even after the government had mandated that temperatures be kept warmer in government buildings to save energy). The media reported it to be the first time a male minister had appeared for a debate in parliament without a tie on. Some called it inappropriate, others practical. And the debate raged on.

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