As if trying to look "casual" wasn't just an uglier kind of affectation! To do away with such baseline standards of adult dress is the illusion of freedom, a lame gesture that leads to even more restrictive mores. Adolescent-minded Boomers won't be satisfied until the only socially acceptable way to present oneself is to dress like a six year-old. And when that day comes, none of us will feel free--just undignified and infantilized. Given the choice, I'd rather be coerced into looking like an adult than a child.

Much is made of the idea that not wearing a tie allows for more self-expression, which is idiotic. Not wearing a tie says "I'm not wearing a tie," and little else. Wearing a tie--with its endless palette of colors, knots and patterns--is where the expression lies. Like Wilde said, "A mask says far more than a face."