How to Match Your Shirts and Ties

How to Match Your Shirts and Ties 

When it comes to putting together a shirt and tie combination, some gents seem to be born with an uncanny ability to just put together great ensembles of colors, patterns and texture. Many other men however often fall into one of two camps:
1) the “I will wear the same exact combinations and hope no one notices” camp and 2) the “I will point my fingers at my closet, close my eyes and spin around 5 times to see what the day has in store for me” camp. These poor chaps are intimidated by the mere thought of having to think about their wardrobe, relegating their choices into a safe play of recurring solids or the plausible deniability of random selection.


 The concepts below will help you understand how to put together your own suit and tie combinations....

 

And while there’s nothing wrong with laying it up for the occasional luck shot…sometimes, you’ve got to have a better game plan. And you sir, are reading this because you are a student of the game. So in this article, we’re going to provide you with a few basics tips that will help you refine your approach to picking out some winning shirt and tie combinations. Start here and you’ll be a pattern-matching veteran in no time.
Combination #1: Solid-on-Solid

Before we get to pattern mixing, let’s touch on a classic, low-risk combo: the solid tie and solid shirt combo. For the most part, doing this is nearly fail safe, but there are definitely ways to do it better. Here are two ways to approach solid on solid matching:

1. Use contrasting color combinations. No surprise here – you’ve probably already been doing this. If you’re rocking a foundation shirt like a solid white or a solid light blue or pink, you can pretty much wear any color solid tie you like. It’s a great way to make your outfit pop with a bit more color.
2. Use analogous color combinations. This is a very classy, sleek look that many overlook. Wearing a solid light blue shirt? Try it with a solid dark blue tie. Pink shirt? Go with a red, maroon or purple tie. Just keep it in the fam’ (color wise). While doing this won’t have the same “pop” as a contrasting color combination, it’s a minimalistic pairing that symbolizes a certain level of sartorial sophistication.

Going with a patern-on-solid requires a bit more thought than just matching solids,. In fact, a patern tie on a solid shirt is one of the easiest ways to work patterns into your outfit. Here’s the simple but key tip to pulling this off: match the color of your solid tie to the color family of one or more of the colors in your solid shirt. In the above image, the dark blu works perfectly with  red solid shirt.


Combination #2: Pattern-on-Pattern
Now that you’ve snatched the pebble from our hand, on to something with a bit more flare. Mixing a patterned tie with a patterned shirt isn’t rocket science, but some guys seem to stray from it because they’re afraid they’ll end up looking like this. Step one to avoiding a disaster like this? Skip the paisley shirts. We’re going to show you a few examples of patterned ties with patterned shirts that actually work. We’ll also explain how you can apply some simple tips to make successful pattern-on-pattern combos as easy as bacon and eggs.

1. Vary pattern type. Avoid having the same pattern appear in both your shirt and your tie. If your shirt has polka dots, don’t pair it with a dotted tie. Easy.
2. Vary pattern size/scale. In general, the patterns on your tie should be larger and bolder than the patterns on your shirt. For example, a thick, wide-striped tie would work with a thin-striped shirt, but not a thick, wide-striped shirt. A big check would mix well with a smaller check. Having patterns of the same size (and/or type) can result in an overly busy look.
3. Match a detail in the tie with the dominant color of the shirt. Determine the dominant color in your shirt and look for a tie with some of that color within the pattern. For example, white and blue, finely checkered shirt (that looks predominantly blue) would pair nicely with a brown (or any other base color) tie with bold blue stripes.
   

Lastly, here you see a plaid tie with a striped shirt. The shirt employs lines, but is fine enough to not clash with the busy plaid pattern of the tie. The fact that the lines of the shirt go vertically while the plaid lines move diagonally also add to the visual balance and prevent your coworkers from seeking out optical illusions in your shirts.
                                                                   

                                            
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