(FORTUNE Magazine) – In December, 73-year-old Prince Claus set off a fashion revolution--in the Netherlands, at least--when he ripped off his tie before a show of African fashions. According to reports, the prince tossed the offending tie at the feet of his queen and called it "a snake around my neck." That night two TV reporters did the same, and men all over Amsterdam spoke out in support.

Thirty years after feminists burned their bras, men are attacking the tie. "Free your neck and your mind will follow!" "Workers of the world, you have nothing to lose but your ties!" "Stop what you're doing, strip off that tie and ..." And, well, wait a minute. The tie is the place in a man's wardrobe for self-expression. It sends a message, saying, "This is who I am." It identifies you as a member of a clique or profession. It even conveys love, sympathy, or solidarity on national TV. It can also get you ridiculed, should your tie fail to conform to the standards of your group.

Men's-wear execs roundly dismissed reports of the tie's death. "These poor souls blame the tie for choking them when in fact it's nothing more than a half-size in their shirt, an overextended mortgage, and a midlife crisis looking for an angle," says Gene Silverberg, CEO of Bigsby & Kruthers in Chicago. "A great tie can get a man laid or promoted." Heck, you can't say that about the bra.

--Lauren Goldstein