Do you always have to wear a tie for game shooting?

Increasingly in today’s society, for better or worse, formality in gent’s clothing is seen as somewhat anachronistic - gone are the days when it would be unthinkable to wear anything other than a suit, shirt and tie to the office. But one area in which traditions like that are slower to change is shooting. After all, while the materials may have been slightly updated (see technical tweeds, the rise of GoreTex for shooting coats and neoprene in wellies) the style of shooting attire is pretty well unchanged in a hundred years. The reasons are a tangle of traditions, practicalities and etiquette, and the same is true of our neckwear.

Why do the British wear ties for shooting?

One of the oft-cited reasons a tie is considered to be part of the “uniform” of driven game shooting is respect. Driven shoots take a great deal of organisation, time and, well, money to put on, and as such they are “formal” affairs. Even the most relaxed syndicate shoot, where the shoot lunch is a cup of soup and a pork pie consumed in a barn, takes a concerted effort to run. It is often stated that to show respect for one’s host, a tie should be worn, and that to show up with one's top button undone and a bare neck is as rude as showing up to a wedding in jeans and a t-shirt. 

It is also held that wearing a tie demonstrates respect for the quarry. The thinking is that if you are going to take a life, the least you can do is look smart when doing so. In this regard it is perhaps akin to Wimbledon’s insistence that players wear all-white, or golf clubs insisting that members dress in a certain way.

These reasons may seem spurious to you, in today’s world of informal fashions - after all, it makes no difference to the pheasant if you’re wearing a dinner jacket or denim, and the days of weddings being strictly topper-and-tails affairs are long gone.

Practical reasons for wearing a tie for game shooting

It is my suspicion that the real reason we wear ties for shooting are somewhat more rooted in practicality than tradition. Driven game shooting, as we have discussed before, is an activity that takes place during Britain’s damper, colder, windier months. Being outside all day, often in some fairly wild landscapes, means that staying warm is important in order to derive the most from a day in the field. This is where a tie can be more than merely decorative. 

As anyone who has felt a chill east wind playing around their collar will attest, having a cold neck can be a miserable experience. A tie, and the correspondingly fastened top button, helps to create a (largely) windproof seal around the neck, helping to keep that all-important body heat trapped in. On wet days it can also prevent the deeply unpleasant trickling of water down the spine.

Do you always have to wear a tie for a day’s shooting?

All this being said, does this mean that a tie is always the right choice for a day in the field? There are those who would argue that it does not. There are also those who would argue that the first two reasons - respect for the formality of the day and respect for the quarry are bunk. 

First, let us consider that if respect for the quarry were reason enough on its own to wear a tie then it would also be usual to wear a tie for wildfowling, pigeon shooting or walked-up shooting. However, this is resolutely not the case. Second, as I have intimated above, even driven days vary wildly in their formality - sure, you might feel that a tie is obligatory for a day at a grand estate, and no one would likely argue with you, but is the same true for a small-bag farm shoot run by your mate who you happen to know holds his breeks up with bailing twine?

Alternatives to ties for game shooting

So is a tie always the most practical choice? Well, perhaps not. 

Here’s a thing that you may not be aware of: the tie as we know it today has its origins with a group of Croatian mercenaries who were fighting (on the side of France) in the 30 years war. These soldiers wore a traditional neckerchief-like garment that the typically dandyish Parisian society found rather dashing, and quickly adopted. This is where the French get their word for tie: cravat. In English we use that same word for a different garment.

The "Cravat Regiment" - a guard of honour in the Croation Army, wears uniforms that are replicas of those worn by the Croatian mercenaries during the Thirty Years War. Credit: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22173244

Is a cravat acceptable for game shooting?

Let us take, for example, a warm August day on the moors, or an “Indian Summer” partridge day in September. In these instances, a tie could well be rather a warm addition to one’s costume. A nice lightweight silk cravat, worn with an open collar might represent a more sensible choice.

A tie might not even be the most practical neckwear on a wet or cold day either. Since a cravat is worn inside the collar of one’s shirt, there’s an argument that these are a better foil against the wind. Schöffel sell a silk cravat lined with microfleece, which would no doubt be very cosy, as well as smart.

Then there are the cravat-adjacent garments made from a towelling material that would undoubtedly offer better protection from the rain. These are sometimes called “rain chokers”, and make a good alternative to a scarf, the bulk of which can, as I have discovered to my cost, can effect your gun mount. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Although rare, it is not unheard of to see a cravat on a shoot day, but the consensus among the GunsOnPegs team is that it is a somewhat eccentric choice, and one that requires a certain flamboyance of style and personality to pull off.

We have heard of a school of thought that neckwear of any kind is unnecessary, but we tend to shy away from that view. It just feels a bit arrogant. If a tie is good enough for the Prince of Wales, its good enough for us!

Although I have suggested that the arguments in favour of ties don’t necessarily always add up, I would still feel very strange turning up on a shoot day bare-necked. The donning of a tie (or as it might be, a cravat) feels to me like part of the ceremony and pomp of a day’s shooting - it is part of the day as much as it is part of my outfit. I would no less arrive at a shoot sans cravat than I would arrive without my breeks.