Left-handed chirality |
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Right-handed chirality |
The diagonally striped men's necktie
presents an example of chirality (mod. Gr., χερι,
hand). They are non-superimposable mirror images of one
another, just as are a pair of hands itself. Using the four
fingers of the curled hand of the left hand to ascend - or
descend - the spiral, the thumb points in the direction of
the motion.
The preponderance of the ties are righthanded. The Army not only has the highest percentage of righthanded ties but also the majority of them. The naval ties are preferentially righthanded but few in number while, the Air Force, the most recent of the services principally has ties that are lefthanded. One may argue facetiously that the Air Force, relatively young compared to the other two service arms, may not have had much to pick from among the remaining righthanded ties, and opted instead for the opposite handedness. Alternatively, they may have sought to establish their independence from the other services. On the subject of independence, one account holds that when this tradition passed to the Americas, militias opted for the lefthanded stripe. A visit to the noted New Haven clothier J. Press, infamous for allegedly creating the "Ivy League look" and historically responsible for the sartorially resplendent male Yalie, reveals a collection of 48 striped ties, all are lefthanded except for 3 that are achiral! More grist for the mill. Hansen's Clothing (Spencer, Iowa) provides regimental (striped) ties in school colors. A random sampling of over ten of them revealed only lefthanded patterns. But what of non-military ties in the UK? Linksandties.co.uk offers 30 striped ties --- all are righthanded. Tiewarehouse.co.uk is 12 out of 12 for righthanded ties. Wrexham Club Ties (UK) is 9 of 9 righthanded. In the US, wildties.com and neckties.com each have 34 windows of striped ties from different manufacturers. You count them!
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