b'STYLE THE CARNEGIE CLUBOpposite, from top: the 1960s Carnaby Street set look; iconic fashion designer Michael Fish taken to Studio 54 by a group of 10 friends. Guess who was the only one who didnt get in. I was wearing a tie!By the beginning of the new millennium, the tie fast became synonymous with exclusiveness and, in some cases, restaurants began to see customer numbers dwindle when ties were insisted on. Cool and casual became the norm and a tie was reserved for smart occasions, with a black tie replacing the traditional bowtie.But ties have lasted in one form or another for the past 350 TIE S HAVE GIVEN ME JOY,years, and I do believe they will become popular againafter all, what goes around (the neck), comes around.BEEN THE C AUSE OF MANYMy love affair with the tie has certainly not diminished over AN ARGUMENT ANDthe years. Without one, I feel something is missing. A suit is set off perfectly with the right tie and, for me, the addition of S OME TIME S AMUSED ME a pocket square adds the final flourish. The Carnegie Clubs chairman, Peter Crome, is well known for his choice of ties and pocket squares. He has a collection of more than 100 ties and a similar number of silk pocket squares 62 2 7 sometimes amused me. Perhaps the best early indication of the powergentlemen was de rigueur. During my time at the Hyde Park HotelThe history of the tie dates back to the 17th century, when Louis the tie would have on my life was in 1968, when I went to a midnightand The Savoy, appearance was everything. We were told that theXIII hired Croatian soldiers who wore a piece of cloth around their screening of The Boston Strangler in Colchester. The film was muchguest is always right in almost everything, apart from their dress. necks as part of their uniform. The French king and his son soon hyped due to the split-screen effect, which was being used for the firstOnce, I refused to allow a gentleman in a zip-up jacket to enter theadopted this as a fashionand the cravat was born. During the 19th time in a major motion picture. In those days, I was a jacket-and-cravatThames Foyer as he was wearing a blouson that did not conform tocentury, la cravate became high fashion, and books were written sort of youth and I was always conscious of my appearance. On arrivalour interpretation of what a jacket was. A jacket buttons up, a blousonon how to tie different knots. First published in the 1830s, LArt de at the Odeon Colchester, I discovered that a college friend was thezips up, I remonstrated. What I did not realise is that the gentlemanMettre sa Cravate contained descriptions of more than 32 different doorman. I greeted him, but he stopped me from entering, pointingin question was a well-known stage actor. He promptly went to thetypes of knot. The most famous and popular knot, the four-in-hand, out that the friend who was accompanying me was not wearing a tie.Evening Standard newspaper with the story, and had the last word,was the fashion for many decades. By the end of the century, /Getty; Adam Nickel Hulton ArchiveI thought he was joking and this reference must be somehow connecteddescribing me as a flunkey. the cravat was beginning to be replaced by the tie or, technically with the film. However, it transpired that this was actually to do withIt was at The Savoy that my passion for ties really first came tospeaking, the necktie.Colchester being a garrison town and the belief that a dress code for thethe fore. One day, walking from the hotel to the Strand with my wife,In the 1950s, ties were being designed to follow the cut of the cinema would lead to an avoidance of any drunken brawlsI assumea beautiful tie in the window of Savoy Taylors Guild caught my eye.suitand the skinny tie became the style to have. Then, during the the idea was that gentlemen wear ties and brawlers do not. I offered toI commented to my wife how beautiful it was and how I would1960s and 1970s, Michael Fish was credited with creating the kipper cut my cravat in two and give my friend the other half. The doormanlike to own it. The price was almost in three figures and I hesitated.tievery much for Londons Carnaby Street setwhich, at six inches agreed and thus began my life as an arbiter of fashion.However, encouraged by my wife, I popped into the shop andwide, looks somewhat odd today.My career in hospitality ensured that I was constantly awarepurchased it. I wore it a lot and it was much admired, and thatAs the 20th century progressed, change was in the air, and of dress codes. In restaurants, in those days, jacket and tie forwas when my interest inand love ofreally nice ties took hold. a more casual look soon became fashionable. During the 1980s, I was'