Everyone wears a uniform, no matter how creative or sloppy they are, and there is a meaning and a conclusion that can be drawn from every element of a person's dress. Color, neatness, style all give signals - conscious or unconscious - about your background, state of mind, capabilities, and you can manipulate them to your advantage.

For females, there is greater leeway in dress, even in a business context, so the signals are more obvious and easier to read. For males, the choices to be made while dressing fo work are more confining. Suit, clean shirt, shiny leather shoes бн that's pretty much it in the serious business world, including the business worlds of Beijing and Shanghai.

But there is one area where men get the chance to display their personality, to re-veal how they feel about themselves and their position in the structure - the necktie.

Ties are a crucial indicator and wearers should pay attention to the tie they choose to knot round their necks, because observers can draw assumptions from them. Both sides - wearers and viewers - can use ties as a way of manipulating a social situation.

First, some tips on color: Dark colors tend to signify restraint, con-trol, a cautious character, but can also sig-nify understated power.

Red is a more aggressive color, suitable for a business meeting in which you are on the attack.

Blues are more conciliatory, better for a meeting where a more low-key approach will help you get what you want.

Bright colors can signify confidence but usually mean frivolousness, a lack of seri-ousness. Yellows, lime greens, pinks, etc, are all in this category. If it would be useful to have the other side underestimate you, these are the colors to go for.

A tie that is clean, neat, well pressed or obviously new sends a positive message of efficiency. One with stain marks from a recent hot pot or a dash of spilled wine is a clear signifier of laziness, sloppiness, a lack of concern about appearance, and therefore, other things as well.

As to tie designs, these are highly subject to changes in fashion. If the tie is out of fashion, it suggests the individual is not up to speed on trends, which can indicate a slowness in other areas. On the other hand, a tie which is clearly of the moment identifies the wearer as someone who is smart, awake, sensitive. For older males, a snappy in-fashion tie design is the easiest way to make a youthful impression.

There is the choice between plain color, stripes, and various designs. A traditional stripe design sends a conservative message. Vertical and horizontal stripes suggest a blinkered, accountant-type personality. Other designs range from the cool to the ridiculous, it just depends. But that Bugs Bunny tie you bought at Xiangyang market is not going to give a good impression, believe me.

The quality and the texture of the tie material is fundamental, and there is usually a direct relationship between price and impact in this area. Spend as much as you can in order to get the right feel. If handling the tie feels luxurious, then you have that part of it right (the color and design is a separate issue).

One issue is the width of the middle of the tie - the bit that wraps around the neck and ends up knotted beneath the Adam's Apple. American ties are thicker, while Eu-ropean ties are thinner. I don't know why, nor do I believe that there is any Freudian implication to this.

The way in which the tie material is cut is really important, and is usually related to the price. A tie looks so simple - just a strip of cloth - but it is not. The way the tie hangs speaks volumes about the tie and its owner. Wide or thin is more of a changeable fash-ion issue - I still have pencil thin ties from the early 1980s, and ridiculously wide ties from the 1970s and 1990s. But the cut is independent of that.

As to how a tie is knotted, there are two basic approaches - regular and Windsor. In real life, the Windsor knot, to me, suggests an overly fastidious approach, possibly nar-cissistic. A regular tie knot is neutral. But a tie that is not knotted up close to the top of the shirt suggests a sloppy personality, or perhaps that the person is distracted.

Then, at the end of the day, there is the ritual loosening-of-the-tie - but NOT its re-moval - which indicates that the wearer is relaxing, or pretending to relax. In a busi-ness situation, this is a great way of manip-ulating the other side into thinking that you are now going tell them the real story.

Answers For Cross Talk

ACROSS: 1. Oyster. 5. Garshu. 9. ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival). 11. Monkeys. 12. Nap time. 13. Tanshui. 14. Runny. 16. Drum. 18. Issue. 21. Ransom. 22. Yu Yuan. 23. Probe. 26. Luda. 29. Pearl. 32. Pompeii. 33. (James) Clavell. 34. Payment. 35. Emu. 36. (Orson) Welles. 37. Bonsai.

DOWN: 2. Yunnan. 3. Treaty. 4. Resents. 5. Ganzhou. 6. Re-paid. 7. Haikou. 8. Emperors. 10. Kesi. 15. Nosed. 17. Rhyme. 18. Imp. 19. Eye. 20. Analects. 24. Rambles. 25. Brewpub. 27. Update. 28. Appeal. 29. Pinyin. 30. Athena. 31. Cock.