[thedoc (OP)]

Pieter Horn  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Dear Chris,

My second question (a bit silly) is about an observation that 99%  of men's striped neck ties have the the line starting at the top left and end at the bottom right. Is this due to the most effective fashion statement or is there some obscure psychological reason.

Pieter Horn

What do you think?

[cheryl j]

Maybe because we read left to right and top to bottom and our eyes like to go in that direction? Thats the only reason I can think of.

[RD]

Heraldry ? ...  apparently a diagonal stripe in one direction indicates illegitimacy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_sinister      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend_%28heraldry%29     

[Don_1]

Maybe because we read left to right ........

....... indicates illegitimacy.

Ah! Yes, left to right, indicating 'its all down hill from here on' and illegitimacy, "How the hell do you tie this b*****d thing in a Windsor knot?"

[RD]

the stripes on the knot go the other way : so they are all b*****d ties

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[alancalverd]

Depends which side of the Atlantic you buy your ties. It's a long time since I wore one, but all my UK college and professional ties had the stripes going in the opposite direction to my US  equivalents.