The Greek Prime Minister Establishes a New Dress Code for Business Men

The new Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and his Greek government have established a new dress code for business men across Europe and the western culture.   

 And I trust it will be an extremely welcome one to most business men at least. The Greek politicians are disregarding the conservative suit and tie dress code of European politics, preferring a more laid-back style. Most of the Greek cabinet members have copied the much more informal and comfy dress code of their 40 year old leader who does not wear a tie even when dressed up in a suit.

 The new Greek Finance Minister, 53 year old Mr Yanis Varoufakis, is one of the biggest supporters of this informal dress code. He is almost seen as a rock star for his flamboyant fashion sense. He travels on a motorbike with a backpack slung across his back. He certainly does not wear ties and usually does not tuck in his shirt.  Recently, when he attended a meeting with the Ex-chequer, George Osborne, at Downing St in London, he was dressed in tight black trousers, an overly tight bright blue shirt and wore a knee length black coat which attracted a lot of attention with both positive and negative comments. Imogen Fox, reporter for the Guardian Newspaper said, “It was apparent from the photo call on Downing Street that we are witnessing a bit of a fashion moment.”

During his election campaign, Mr Tsipras pledged that he would don a tie when Greece achieved a debt reduction agreement. When he met recently with the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, he was given an Italian tie which he suggested  he could wear when Greece resolved its financial crisis. 

The wearing of a tie used to be considered to be the way to impress especially in a business sense. But as a rule, most business men I know loathe wearing a tie. They feel ties very confining and not at all comfortable, especially those who live in hot climates.  I find most business men loosen their tie or take them off at the first possibility they have – as soon as they get home or even at official functions after the formalities have finished such as during a meeting or at  a wedding reception. I am of the opinion that most business men would condone a change to the formal dress code and would be keen to accept a more informal approach without having to wear a tie.

I am certain that business men everywhere would respect Mr Tsipra for setting off the acceptance of this more casual dress code trend.   Would you?