How to be stylish casual when you can’t find a necktie

Jane Ann Morrison’s experience at Mandarin Oriental, in which she got turned away because she was not "smart casual" or "stylish casual" enough for the place, reminds me a story "cousin" Waddie Mitchell tells on his album with Don Edwards, "The Bard & The Balladeer."

He was in New York City with Edwards and was invited to lunch in a fancy restaurant. When he arrives, the maitre d’ informs him he may not enter without a "real" necktie. So Waddie goes down to his pickup and rummages for a tie. But all he can find is a pair of jumper cables.

So he wraps them around his neck and goes back up … about half mad and ready to punch somebody.

The maitre d’ grins and says, "OK, I’m going to let you in this time, but don’t you start anything."

Here is a link to Waddie’s story.