Shirts and Ties
You can really flex your color and print muscles when combining
Style Resources for Men.
Here are some starter tips for those of you on fashion training wheels.
Basic Rules to Live By
* Balance is the key.
** When it comes to ties: The brighter the color, the more conservative the pattern, and vice versa.
** When it comes to pairing a shirt and tie: The brighter the tie, the plainer the shirt, and vice versa.
** You can mix prints on ties and shirts, '''as long as they're not the same size'''. (In other words, small dots with large stripes are okay, but large stripes with large dots are a bad match.)
** Leave the printed tie/printed shirt/printed suit triple threats to the experts.
* 100%
silk ties are the best quality and knot the best.
* 100%
cotton shirts are the only dress shirts worth your time.
* Never wear a button-down collar with a double breasted suit.
* Collars should flatter your face.
**
straight collars.
** Round faces get
straight point collars.
* It's sad, but true...the monochrome tie look ended when ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' went off the air.
* And novelty ties (singing Santa, large mouth bass, etc.) should be reserved for people who don't want to be taken seriously.
* And the classic film, ''Legally Blonde'' reminded us that "No one looks good in paisley." (Don't lie. You've seen it.)
How Do They Fit?
The more expensive a shirt, the better it will fit you. But if you look, you can get a well-fitted shirt for a reasonable price.
* That being said, shirts are measured by your sleeve length and your neck length.
SYMS has a great guide for fitting.
* If it constricts your breathing, the buttons seem stressed, or the sleeves don't cover your wrists, it's too small.
* If you're swimming in it or the shoulders extend past your own, it's too big.
* Your tie must be tied to hit your belt line. No more, no less.
* Your shirt collar should come a bit above your
suit collar and your shirt cuff a bit beyond your jacket cuff.
Shirt and Tie Care
* It's best to launder your shirts and hand press them. It will not only save on your dry cleaning bill, but it will preserve the life of your shirt.
**
Better Lifestyle offers simple instructions on how to iron a dress shirt.
* According to
Silkforme, this is the way ties should be handled:
** Never remove your tie by pulling the know until it comes freeuntie it properly.
** Store ties hanging, preferably on a
tie rack.
** Try to keep stains off your shirtuse a dry cleaner if you stain your tie (and don't let the stain sit there for months!)
*
Care2 allows other messy eaters to share their top 20 tips for getting stains out of ties.
Related Guides
International Resources
For this resource in your home country, please see:
!
FR: Accessoires Mode pour Homme
