By : Phillip Sadler
Your physical appearance, personality, career choices, interests and the way individuals see you may be important. But clothing selections should never make you a real man. Paying attention to small details like how a suit will fit and which tie you should pair with it, can make a huge impression on new business partners, colleagues, and prospective employers.
Consider your fashion statements as a low-maintenance investment that can generate consistent returns over the whole course of your career. This guideline will be able to help you master the tacit language of choosing a tie for men, and you will know how to change an inconvenient necessity into having a striking impression.
Important Things to Consider
Necktie vs. Bowtie
Men pair bowties with tuxedos at gaudy events, such as the opera, large weddings, and awards ceremonies to look like prominent business figures or celebrities. It can make you look daring and fashion-forward. However, a bowtie is risky if there are no occasions.
Color
It is another basic consideration. Many can prove that color is one of the most difficult choices to make. If you go for a simple look, a white shirt and black suit can go well with almost any clear and solid color. Safe alternatives are light or dark green, blue and other cool colors.
Red can also work well. Solid red, yellow, pink, or orange ties will also work, but you must be confident with them to pull them off perfectly. Lack of self-confidence and self-consciousness will just ruin any look.
Length and Width
Designers make ties for men base on an average height and who wear pants at their hips. In short, either you’re very tall or very short or want to wear your pants around your thighs or above your belly button, any standard tie should be suitable.
However, vintage ties are an exception to this rule which may differ based on a particular style of the designer. In that case, don’t forget that the standard length of a tie is 57” and you must also consider your height before buying a tie at a shorter or longer length.
Width is important, but many forgot to take it into consideration. The normal width tends to change by decade and is basing to which group you are looking. Young and fashion-forward men mostly choose narrower ties. Ties at their widest points, which is around 2 ½ inches to 3 inches, are the best option for most formal gatherings.
Material
The fabric of your tie doesn’t matter, but ties made of silk are the standard material because they feel and look the best. Wool can provide a compelling variation to your appearance but can appear heavy or dull.
Patterns and Stripes
If you want to make your appearance more solid, or if you’re simply having some difficulty in finding solid colored ties, you may consider patterns and stripes as an alternative. Anyone can look good in diagonal stripes ties, but you might want to tone down the rest of your clothing if you want to look conservative. Just make sure that the colors of the strips are the same as the rest of your outfit.
Patterns can be an inspiring style to get attention, but not really in a good way. For example, paisley patterns can make younger men look bored, and older men look outdated, while low-contrast paisley patterns can be astonishing.
A nice plaid tie is also effective, but somehow, it can make you look like as if you are a British school boy from the 1980s. Nice patterns only have few colors and will not exceed to three, and each color should match at least one section of your outfit.
Safe patterns include plaids, neutral plaids, paisleys, low-contrast squares, and rows of dots. Daring men can also choose to wear some trendy pattern such as herringbone, houndstooth, or Burberry, but clothing trends can also be expensive.
Takeaway
Now that you already have an idea on how to pick a great tie, it’s up to you to decide on how to wear it. You don’t have to buy an expensive tie because you can just purchase one in some men’s clothing sale online. Your new tie can pull together an impressive look and can help you wow people if you just choose it carefully and wear it with consideration.
Philip Sadler is an entrepreneur and a writer by heart. He owns a boutique which he manages together with his wife Lira. Philip is passionate about styles and fashion, especially for men. Aside from being busy with work, he also writes for different websites to share his knowledge about fashion trends and style tips like Seed Heritage.
