I remember the teachers made rumblings about banning them,
being strict old-guard bastards (who'd died for us in three world wars, etc.) but I think they decided it would be better for us to have one bit of the uniform we could arse around with.
(
Astatine,
Tue 18 Nov 2003, 16:41,
archived)
that's when we introduced
the 'thinsy' tie.
where you tuck the thick end into your shirt, and only show the smaller end
(
Pootle,
Tue 18 Nov 2003, 17:09,
archived)