At the end of 2019, I moved from Geraldton. It was a wrench as I had moved with my family from Ireland in 2009 to take up a teaching position with John Willcock College, now Champion Bay SHS. I thought we were coming for a few years – three at most – but ended up staying for eleven years. I moved school once – to Strathalbyn Christian College – and home two more times. Over the years, we deepened our roots. When my wife went through a fairly scary time with a serious illness, Medicare, our school and church supported us throughout that time. We bought our home, I trod the boards with Theatre 8, became a citizen, our oldest children left school, my youngest became Primary Head Boy, and we became grandparents. We looked and felt settled in Geraldton. Then the job situation changed. Numbers at the school dropped, and my position was made redundant. It was a stressful time, and a new job in Perth’s northern suburbs did alleviate the financial pressure. We moved; I felt that our ties to Geraldton were being severed.
At the beginning of September, I attended the wedding of a former student. Coming to Geraldton and staying in an Airbnb was distinctly odd; I was a tourist in the town that had a claim on eleven years of my life. Then disaster struck – there was a wardrobe crisis. I had my suit but forgot to pack a tie. I rang three Geraldton friends, but no answer. I realised I had no choice. I would have to buy a Target tie.
I walked up and down the men’s aisle in Target, searching to no avail. When I eventually found a store assistant, she told me that Target didn’t sell them anymore. Another assistant said to me that no shop sold ties for men in Geraldton. I was confused – Target sold suits and formal shirts. But not ties? And could it be true that no other shop sold them? Certainly, none that I could find on a Saturday morning. It turns out that Target and the other shops are not alone.
The pandemic isn’t to blame, as one American report might suggest. In October last year, Guardian (UK) reported that Marks & Spenser, the British retail giant, was cutting back the space devoted to selling suits. The sales of ties had reduced by 6%, suits by 7%, and formal jackets by 10%. There is, seemingly, a change (lessening?) in standards. Major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs don’t require ties. Young men, says a commentator, are “are more interested in fashion and more confident about choosing outfits” and therefore less reliant on the so-called, “safe uniform” of a suit. I’m not convinced at all by this argument. The suit is no more a safe option than a white wedding dress. (The bride was beautiful, by the way.)
Anyone who knows me will cheerfully acknowledge that I am no Adonis. Yet I do scrub up well, particularly in a suit. Good Sammys came to the rescue, as they always do for so many in greater need than mine. I dread to think that the suit, which has served men well for over 150 years, will soon be no more.
My ties to Geraldton are not wholly severed. It would seem that ties for Geraldton men have been.
Mr Buckley's Blog 
