It's all about the light blue tie
What is it about light blue ties?
Gordon Brown wore one on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th of October.
On the other two days, October 3rd and 7th, David Cameron wore one.
Never, interestingly, did their neckwear coincide.
Hugo Rifkind sheds some light on this mystery in a recent observation about George Bush:
His work with Iraq and the US economy may have been sketchy, but George Bush scored a lasting triumph with his neckwear. He has, apparently, pioneered the wearing of light blue ties, a trend copied by both Barak Obama and John McCain. "It really lightens up a man's face, and he comes across as more decisive, but in a human sort of way," says the American author Donna Brazile..
Perhaps this is where the inspiration comes from?
Tim Rice
I was hoping for a slightly deeper analysis...
It'd be interesting to hear thoughts on why Gordon Brown wore the same tie nearly every day.
The colour may well lighten his face, but other colours must do that too - therefore is it an exercise in branding, so we all have a uniform image of Gordon?
Surely a red tie would be better from that perspective. Or is his conservative choice (both with and without a big C) the whole point?
Some stylist has probably put hours of thought into this. I'd love to know more...
Posted by: Richard Ryan | 9 Oct 2007 18:09:26
The Blue is for the color of "St.Andrews Cross" being a true Scot thats why
Posted by: Hugh MacDonald | 9 Oct 2007 20:10:39
I can understand Cameron wearing a light blue tie, blue being, after all, the colour of his party. Only a man like Gordon Brown, famous for having one sock tucked in, could back down from holding an election and wear the his main opponent’s colour around his neck.
Posted by: R P | 9 Oct 2007 22:24:03
Donna Brazile is NOT qualified to discuss tie colors.
Posted by: Jeff Crawford | 9 Oct 2007 23:17:06
Its Brown spin again. Brown is wearing blue ties as often as he does as part of the whole spin about being steady, almost right wing. Same old New Labour gimmicks.
Posted by: Matt Wright | 9 Oct 2007 23:18:13
Blue ties---
We all know, don't we, that it is the (t)ies to the right ,and the (n)ayes to the left.
On the other the hand , copying is the sincerest form of flattery. To go searching for cosmetic reasons is a red herring, Labour is saying that they are all Tory now !!!
Morphing they call it.
Incidentally, Gordon is getting to look like Richard Nixon very very rapidly!!!!!
Posted by: maggie snook | 10 Oct 2007 00:36:40
The only way to make Twitchy Broun attractive is to put a broun-paper bag over his head.
Posted by: Daniel Finkelstein McCarthy | 10 Oct 2007 01:47:19
RP - this is politics, not football. You don't have to wear your team colours when you're playing.
Posted by: adam | 10 Oct 2007 12:31:09
Can I get back the two and a half minutes that I lost reading this piffle?
Posted by: Alan Addison | 10 Oct 2007 13:37:05
This professional analysis of George Bush blue, blogged here just after the 2004 State of the Union speech, may shed some light on the topic:
"Trust is the biggest issue out there today," said Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Color Institute. "The human mind connects blue with the elements of nature that are always there and never go away: the sky and sea. It's the color that invokes feelings of loyalty, steadfastness, constants. It's the believability factor."
"It's not that red isn't a power color anymore, but blue has overtaken it. Red has an exciting connotation but can also be connected with bloodshed and danger." In times of war and national anxiety, she said, "Blue is a much better choice."
http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2004/01/the_blogosphere.html
Posted by: Sissy Willis | 10 Oct 2007 14:47:47
Of course Andrew Marr wore one when he interviewed GB at the weekend. This was presumably to show that he was on the same team as the prime minster.
Posted by: Bishop Hill | 10 Oct 2007 20:37:09
Sorry guys, it's because my beloved Manchester City are high up in the Premier league - everyone wants to be part of the Sven revolution! It's like watching Brazil. For non-footy fans City's colours are sky blue with a bit of claret and white.
Posted by: Ian Burgess | 10 Oct 2007 20:57:05
Well - if he's talking to a Labour fringe meeting, it's invariably a red tie.
If it's addressing a labour conference - it's a "Rex-Imperator" mauve with matching backdrop.
And the rest of the time he's wearing "I-really-want-you-to -believe-I-can-attract-tories" blue.
How people swallow this idiocy never ceases to amaze me...
Posted by: Chris | 11 Oct 2007 07:32:13
Surely the fact that he wore a blue tie has nothing to do with politics, why does it matter?
If he wore red tie nothing would have changed that day he still would have been prime minister, it does not effect his abilty or lack of as it may seem atm to run the country.
I would think that people are reading to much into this and in my mind,what he does for the public is far more inportant in what tie he has been give to wear that day.
Posted by: Paul | 11 Oct 2007 07:54:41
I hope these tie wearers are making a point against the politically correct bare neck bogus informality both Blair and Bush practiced.
Posted by: John Pedler | 11 Oct 2007 14:09:56
Well i have to give it to Brown, it is smart what he is doing! I suspect he is only wearing the blue tie to wind up the tories! If he were to wear the red tie, he will remind us all and the labour supporters of old labour and the wilderness years so maybe it is better not to wear the traditional red afterall! Oh and it does not make you an arsenal fan if you wore an arsenal shirt!
Posted by: Hass | 14 Oct 2007 21:07:55
Perhaps some enterprising journalist will research how many times Gordon Brown wore a red tie in public over the last ten years, year by year, and how many times he wore a blue tie. Somehow I think the tide turned in 2007
Posted by: John Green- Wokingham Berks | 15 Oct 2007 11:31:01