Story highlights Former president loses a modern staple of presidential outfits

Monday's open-collar Obama reflected his mood

(CNN) Former President Barack Obama made his first public remarks since leaving the White House wearing a white shirt, dark suit jacket and, noticeably, no tie.

"So ... uh ... what's been going on while I've been gone?" he joked on Monday at the University of Chicago while taking his seat, a reference to both his public absence and his successor.

As many Democrats across America have spent the opening days of President Donald Trump's administration protesting and calling their representatives in Congress, Obama vacationed. Photos of him kitesurfing as well as standing on the top deck of a 138-meter yacht snapping a photo of his wife Michelle, showed a man enjoying presidential retirement despite Trump, who's threatening to dismantles his signature legislation and who once questioned his citizenship.

Obama's post-White House demeanor is unbothered, confident and cool, and his dress Monday reflected that.

Ties are a mainstay of Washington and politics. And for the eight years of his presidency, Obama was rarely seen without one, except when on vacation or the campaign trail, appealing to voters. When he wanted to appear presidential, the tie was there.

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