So for all of you out there in reading land who wondered where I went, I was working on the next batch of fashion, trends, movies, etc. articles. And first up we have the dress shirt. To be quite frank, the dress shirt actually has very little to play in this topic. I am more concerned with the pairing of it with its eternal mate: the tie. Personally, I really don't understand why this is such a hard concept, but what I have noticed over the last 8 months or so is that men (and even about 60% of women) seem to have a hard time pairing the two. Now I'm not talking about pairing a basic tie with a solid shirt. I am referring to matching patterned shirts with patterned ties. This can be anything from stripes on stripes to matching a wide checked shirt with a smaller checked tie. First off, the main rule that you have to think about is the rule of 3. This simply refers to the fact that 2 out of 3 things that you are wearing can be the same pattern. For example: if you are wearing a pinstriped suit then either your tie or your shirt can be striped, but not both. When it comes to patterns, you want to watch that the patterns aren't too similar in size. This goes with stripes as well. The stripe widths need to be different or it looks too much like you cut a piece of your tie/shirt/suit and made the other striped piece. For checks on checks, I often opt for a large box check for the shirt and use a smaller pattern for the tie. Sometimes it is nice to mix up the direction of the checks as well. A small diamond shape on the basic windowpane is a nice classic look.
If you really have lots of trouble with the matching, pick up a magazine and cut out the pictures that you like and use them for shopping. In a recent interview with the CEO of Armani, one of the main things that was talked about was how he finds it stupid that men don't use their resources for shopping. There is nothing wrong with taking your favorite pictures and trying to replicate them within your wardrobe. Another thing is to find a sales associate who seems to be very knowledgable and take their advice. When worse comes to worse, just shop off the mannequins. They are probably "store set" which means that they were picked out by people with a degree in visuals.
Finally, what is the deal with men only knowing how to tie one knot. That is just stupid. Every man should learn how to tie (at least) the basic three knots. They all have a different time to be used. Most men learned how to tie the only knot that they know from their father. There is nothing wrong with that, but one knot isn't good for every occasion. Oh, and if you are the kind of man that leaves your tie tied when you are not wearing it, please stop. All that does is press permanent wrinkles into the tie. So back to the knots...the first knot that we come to is the
four-in-hand. This is the most basic of knots and makes the smallest of knots. It is used with forward point and button down shirts, or if you want to be very Euro, a wide spread collar. Next we come to the
half-windsor. This is the lazy brother of the windsor knot but works well when the larger knot doesn't fit. Finally, the full
windsor knot (probably named after the Duke of Windsor) is the most elegant knot and, as consequence, the most formal. Regardless of what type of knot you tie, the dimple must be present in the tie just below the base of the knot. This "crease" should be centered and pulled tight. Now that you've mastered all the knots, take the time to learn to tie the
bowtie. Final verdict: get out there and master a couple knots then expand your shirt/tie combinations. Every girl's crazy about a sharp dressed man...just remember that.
So for all of you out there in reading land who wondered where I went, I was working on the next batch of fashion, trends, movies, etc. articles. And first up we have the dress shirt. To be quite frank, the dress shirt actually has very little to play in this topic. I am more concerned with the pairing of it with its eternal mate: the tie. Personally, I really don't understand why this is such a hard concept, but what I have noticed over the last 8 months or so is that men (and even about 60% of women) seem to have a hard time pairing the two. Now I'm not talking about pairing a basic tie with a solid shirt. I am referring to matching patterned shirts with patterned ties. This can be anything from stripes on stripes to matching a wide checked shirt with a smaller checked tie. First off, the main rule that you have to think about is the rule of 3. This simply refers to the fact that 2 out of 3 things that you are wearing can be the same pattern. For example: if you are wearing a pinstriped suit then either your tie or your shirt can be striped, but not both. When it comes to patterns, you want to watch that the patterns aren't too similar in size. This goes with stripes as well. The stripe widths need to be different or it looks too much like you cut a piece of your tie/shirt/suit and made the other striped piece. For checks on checks, I often opt for a large box check for the shirt and use a smaller pattern for the tie. Sometimes it is nice to mix up the direction of the checks as well. A small diamond shape on the basic windowpane is a nice classic look.
If you really have lots of trouble with the matching, pick up a magazine and cut out the pictures that you like and use them for shopping. In a recent interview with the CEO of Armani, one of the main things that was talked about was how he finds it stupid that men don't use their resources for shopping. There is nothing wrong with taking your favorite pictures and trying to replicate them within your wardrobe. Another thing is to find a sales associate who seems to be very knowledgable and take their advice. When worse comes to worse, just shop off the mannequins. They are probably "store set" which means that they were picked out by people with a degree in visuals.
Finally, what is the deal with men only knowing how to tie one knot. That is just stupid. Every man should learn how to tie (at least) the basic three knots. They all have a different time to be used. Most men learned how to tie the only knot that they know from their father. There is nothing wrong with that, but one knot isn't good for every occasion. Oh, and if you are the kind of man that leaves your tie tied when you are not wearing it, please stop. All that does is press permanent wrinkles into the tie. So back to the knots...the first knot that we come to is the four-in-hand. This is the most basic of knots and makes the smallest of knots. It is used with forward point and button down shirts, or if you want to be very Euro, a wide spread collar. Next we come to the half-windsor. This is the lazy brother of the windsor knot but works well when the larger knot doesn't fit. Finally, the full windsor knot (probably named after the Duke of Windsor) is the most elegant knot and, as consequence, the most formal. Regardless of what type of knot you tie, the dimple must be present in the tie just below the base of the knot. This "crease" should be centered and pulled tight. Now that you've mastered all the knots, take the time to learn to tie the bowtie. Final verdict: get out there and master a couple knots then expand your shirt/tie combinations. Every girl's crazy about a sharp dressed man...just remember that.
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