# Why do all politicians wear suits and ties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390 "2014-08-12T19:27:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/1 "2014-08-12T19:27:03Z")
Even from 2nd and 3rd world countries where no one wears this uniform, but wear traditional dress. I think only the leaders of the gulf states and a few African states use traditional garb, maybe some others. But all business people and heads of state, etc. always wear them. When did this begin? It looks so stale and sterile. Will anyone ever break this mold? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/2 "2014-08-12T19:28:59Z")
Putin doesn’t even wear a shirt all the time. Obama gave a statement yesterday with no tie. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/3 "2014-08-12T19:31:57Z")
Because running the world is Serious Business. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/4 "2014-08-12T19:36:05Z")
Europe and Japan started doing it after we defeated the axis powers in WWII because it was the de facto American style at the time. The Japanese even showed up to sign the surrender documents [with top hats on](http://historicaltextarchive.com/ww2/Surrender2.jpg); talk about kissing butt. These rest of the world followed suit. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/5 "2014-08-12T19:43:05Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Even from 2nd and 3rd world countries where no one wears this uniform, but wear traditional dress. I think only the leaders of the gulf states and a few African states use traditional garb, maybe some others. But all business people and heads of state, etc. always wear them. When did this begin? > > It looks so stale and sterile. Will anyone ever break this mold? This is not a new phenomenon. For example, at Japan’s surrender at the end of WWII, [Japanese diplomats](http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/surr-ceremony.jpg) wore the traditional morning suit. (You may have heard of the term “striped pants diplomat,” or a traditional sort of diplomat/civil servant.) And it isn’t really a political thing. Suits are also popular among business executives from different countries. Shoot, you can even go see a typical laborer in China (maybe building a road or something) and there’s a good chance he may be wearing a (very cheap) business suit, sans tie! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/6 "2014-08-12T19:51:57Z")
**bardos** , I thought you were from Spain, but must have been confused. First, normally only male politicians wear ties. Some female ones have been seen in public in dresses (even maternity dresses), jeans, skirts… Second, male ones will go for a “more casual” look when they want to look “worker class” or “relaxed”. As for what your actual question was, **Ravenman** already answered it. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/7 "2014-08-12T19:53:49Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Europe and Japan started doing it after we defeated the axis powers in WWII because it was the de facto American style at the time. The Japanese even showed up to sign the surrender documents [with top hats on](http://historicaltextarchive.com/ww2/Surrender2.jpg); talk about kissing butt. These rest of the world followed suit. It was actually the European style long before that. Here are the signatories of the [Versailles treaty](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Orpen%2C_William_%28Sir%29_%28RA%29_-_The_Signing_of_Peace_in_the_Hall_of_Mirrors%2C_Versailles%2C_28th_June_1919_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/853px-Orpen%2C_William_%28Sir%29_%28RA%29_-_The_Signing_of_Peace_in_the_Hall_of_Mirrors%2C_Versailles%2C_28th_June_1919_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg) as an example. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/8 "2014-08-12T20:01:14Z")
Personally, I prefer it. I mean, officials wearing formal dress. It shows they are taking things seriously. I hate it when politicians and businessmen do away with jackets and ties and roll up their sleeves in a conscious effort to say ‘look, I’m one of you!’ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/9 "2014-08-12T20:22:44Z")
President [Jose Mujica](http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Jose+Mujica+Cordano+Barack+Obama+Meets+Jose+f8R4aixcRm5l.jpg) of Uruguay doesn’t wear a tie even with a three-piece suit and meeting with Obama. [He’s not crazy about socks, either.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2013/12/Uruguay_Mujica-04b12.jpg) President [Evo Morales of Bolivia](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130926152522-evo-morales-story-top.jpg) goes tieless and often wears an Andean sweater instead of a suit jacket. President [Raul Castro of Cuba](http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/WORLD/americas/04/16/cuba.castro.term.limits/t1larg.raul.castro.afp.gi.jpg) often wears a guayabera, a fancy shirt, although he sometimes is seen in a suit and tie. President [Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua](http://nicaraguadispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ortega-obama-insid.jpg)also goes tieless, even when meeting with Obama. These guys are all leftists who don’t want to be identified with business or the upper class. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/10 "2014-08-12T20:25:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > **bardos** , I thought you were from Spain, but must have been confused. > > First, normally only male politicians wear ties. Some female ones have been seen in public in dresses (even maternity dresses), jeans, skirts… Second, male ones will go for a “more casual” look when they want to look “worker class” or “relaxed”. > > As for what your actual question was, **Ravenman** already answered it. I do live in Spain. My question: I was just watching Al Jazeera news and I saw that Egyptian president Sisi had arrived in Moscow. He and Putin were both shown in suits and ties. Something snapped in my head… it looked so stupid. Who are they trying to fool? They were born naked and both shower naked. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/11 "2014-08-12T20:26:02Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Europe and Japan started doing it after we defeated the axis powers in WWII because it was the de facto American style at the time. The Japanese even showed up to sign the surrender documents [with top hats on](http://historicaltextarchive.com/ww2/Surrender2.jpg); talk about kissing butt. These rest of the world followed suit. Here’s a [photo of Russians and Japanese negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Portsmouth#mediaviewer/File:Treaty_of_Portsmouth.jpg). All wearing suits and ties. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/12 "2014-08-12T20:45:49Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > My question: I was just watching Al Jazeera news and I saw that Egyptian president Sisi had arrived in Moscow. He and Putin were both shown in suits and ties. Something snapped in my head… it looked so stupid. > > Who are they trying to fool? They were born naked and both shower naked. So, you are imagining Sisi and Putin naked??? Seriously, a man wears a suit and tie to indicate respectability, seriousness, and conventionality. A lot of men wish to communicate those traits to others. Politicians especially so. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/13 "2014-08-12T20:47:56Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > …I saw that Egyptian president Sisi had arrived in Moscow. He and Putin were both shown in suits and ties. Something snapped in my head… it looked so stupid. > [@Colibri](#): > > …These guys are all leftists who don’t want to be identified with business or the upper class. Whoever is at the top of the global power hierarchy: that’s who most will try to emulate. If the USA and Europe are at the top (and at present they seem to be), then whatever males (who of course are at the pinnacle of power) wear there will be the garb that other males will adopt to conduct “business,” political or otherwise.\* Those who explicitly reject the current global power hierarchy–e.g. South and Central American socialists–will reject the garb of the most powerful, as a symbol of their (supposed) rejection of that global power hierarchy. \*Female adoption of the top-of-the-hierarchy males’ garb is strictly (if informally) policed, mostly via ridicule (e.g.: mockery of Hillary’s pantsuits). Note that when female news anchors began to be seen on US television a few decades back, they wore blazers; today no female who cared about her career progress would risk the ridicule and contempt that would attend any attempt to wear a blazer (which is reserved for those at the top of the hierarchy: males). (Seriously, try to find a pic of a US female newscaster of the past few years in anything but a sleeveless dress!) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/14 "2014-08-12T21:08:08Z")
I always thought Iran’s Ahmedinejad was going for the college professor look with the shirt, no tie, and cheap sports coat. Certainly didn’t look like your average politician. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/15 "2014-08-12T21:28:56Z")
To show other people in attendance that they regard it as a formal appearance. I think the Israeli Knesset abandoned neckties way back in the 1950s, and met in formal session wearing open collars. Here they are in 1960: [http://www.knesset.gov.il/history/images/img0103-s.jpg](http://www.knesset.gov.il/history/images/img0103-s.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/16 "2014-08-12T21:43:40Z")
To indicate their soullessness and conformity. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/17 "2014-08-12T21:46:44Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > To show other people in attendance that they regard it as a formal appearance. Yes. But the question is: _why_ is it the suit-and-tie that connotes formality? Why isn’t it the Cambodian sampot or the Moroccan kaftan or the Chilean chamanto? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/18 "2014-08-12T21:57:53Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yes. But the question is: _why_ is it the suit-and-tie that connotes formality? > > Why isn’t it the Cambodian sampot or the Moroccan kaftan or the Chilean chamanto? See posts #4, 7, & 13. Cambodia, Morocco, and Chile are generally not regarded as influential world powers. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_Bow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jim\_Bow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Bow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/19 "2014-08-12T22:50:57Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > It was actually the European style long before that. Here are the signatories of the [Versailles treaty](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Orpen%2C_William_%28Sir%29_%28RA%29_-_The_Signing_of_Peace_in_the_Hall_of_Mirrors%2C_Versailles%2C_28th_June_1919_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/853px-Orpen%2C_William_%28Sir%29_%28RA%29_-_The_Signing_of_Peace_in_the_Hall_of_Mirrors%2C_Versailles%2C_28th_June_1919_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg) as an example. The three piece suit is a European creation in the first place. Perhaps the question should be, “Why do American male politicians wear European clothing?” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390/20 "2014-08-12T23:53:36Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > See posts #4, 7, & 13. Cambodia, Morocco, and Chile are generally not regarded as influential world powers. I know (I’m the writer of post #13). I was urging the person to whom I replied to consider the question. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-politicians-wear-suits-and-ties/695390.md?page=2)