Knot dead yet ties resist retirement

LONDON, Sep 4 (Reuters) Sizzling summer temperatures in many countries led to calls for men to ditch their work-day ties. But adopting casual summer styles all year around could still count against you in the office or at an interview.

In Japan, the dress-down summer campaign was dubbed ''Cool Biz'' and the aim was to save energy by encouraging men to throw off their ties and jackets and turn down the air conditioning.

In Britain, trade unions advised employers to allow staff to wear ''cool work'' attire -- including vest tops and shorts.

It might seem logical, but it didn't come naturally.

Even as temperatures soared to records around the glass-and-steel skyscrapers of London's Canary Wharf financial district, a look around the plaza bars, coffee shops and restaurants suggested many men are cautious about doing cool.

Not a surprise, says John Miln of the British Guild of Tie Makers. He said increasingly relaxed rules on what to wear to work, which partly grew out of a policy of allowing more casual dress on Fridays, had gone too far.

''Most British men don't know how to dress particularly well, not like the Italians and the Germans.'' Miln said many men are happier when they know exactly what to wear, and a suit with a tie is an easy look to put together.

But others have slammed ties as useless, and even dangerous.

The British Medical Association said earlier this year that doctors should stop wearing ''functionless'' ties, and white coats, because they could spread deadly hospital superbugs.

''Ties are rarely cleaned and are often worn every day,'' it said in a statement.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS However, many companies do seem to believe that ties serve a function in Britain, where sales have held steady around 20 million per annum for the past few years.

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