Build a Wardrobe
How many suits should you have? At least three is ideal. This allows you to have one at the cleaners and two remaining in the rotation. We've already mentioned that your first suit should be solid navy, single-breasted (or double breasted if you're large). Your second suit should be solid charcoal or "oxford" gray, also single-breasted. It's important to start off conservative but versatile, and these are the two best bets. These will be your perfect interview, important meeting, or confidence-required suits.
For a third suit, it's okay to be a little less conservative, with a mid-blue or gray, or even olive colored ensemble. You might also want to choose a pinstripe or "banker's stripe" (a little thicker) at this point, as well as a double-breasted jacket. You could also look at a heavier (Flannel) or lighter (Tropical) wool, as mentioned previously. All of these are acceptable options for a third or fourth suit. These will be your typical day at the office suits, part of your rotation, comfortable, and not so formal as the alpha and beta suits.
From there, you can pretty much do what you like. You've got the basics at this point, and can't go too far wrong. You can try things like bow ties or suspenders (not necessarily at the same time, Elmer Fudd) or even a pocket puff (pronounced "poofter" in Australia, or "hanky" in the US). These kinds of accessories should be tied together, color-wise, but do not have them match exactly. Think complementary, not anal-retentive to the last detail. Next thing you know, you'll be matching your shoelaces to your tie.
You can also go with a classic navy blazer (a staple of any man's wardrobe) as well as another sports jacket, and get three pairs of wool slacks that you could rotate with the two jackets. But you should never mix and match suit jackets and suit slacks. Suits are meant to be worn as a complete set, and you'll look like a dork. The above options and a number of versatile ties will give you a solid five-day rotation for the workweek.
Be sure to take good care of your clothes, and you will extend their life expectancy as well as keep them looking great. You should have wooden hangers and a clothes brush for home care, and dry clean on a regular basis, maybe every 3 months. This should answer all the requirements of your professional livery. At least until your new wardrobe starts winning you the salary you've been shooting for all along… Take a look below for great tips on style & fashion!
Matching a Tie to a shirt
Solid white, pale blue and light gray dress shirts are staples of a business wardrobe; they're accepted in just about any environment and dress code, and offer a crisp, classic look. They're also very versatile as you can match them easily with most ties.
Unfortunately, patterned shirts -- such as plaid, striped and checkered -- tend to be less versatile, and for many they can be a nightmare to mix and match. So, to help you along the way, I decided to offer some basic rules on matching them with different ties.
Matching a tie to a shirt sometimes is just pure fun, but sometimes, you just wish you had never bought that suit, or shirt.
Here, we will go through some of the basics that will inevitably help you coordinate your wardrobe for a long time to come.
Plain White Shirts
A shirt is like a canvas. If you really want to show off your necktie - put it on a clean white shirt, and watch the reaction you get. Any color tie goes with a white shirt. If you are ever in doubt, wear a white shirt.
Solid Color Shirts
Solid or single color shirts such as pale blue, pale yellow, pale tan, and the rest of the color spectrum requires a little thought.
First, you can match the same color shirt and tie, this has been done for decades and it is still a valuable option. However, what if you don't want to match, well the easiest thing to do is COORDINATE.
Coordinating doesn't really take a lot of mastery, it simply means matching two different colors that go well together.
Coordinate
A pale blue shirt with a yellow, red, burgundy, gold or navy tie.
A pale pink shirt with a navy blue or burgundy tie.
A pale tan shirt with a brown (or any shade of brown) tie.
A French blue shirt with a yellow, bright red, deep burgundy or gold tie.
Striped Shirts
Looking for a bit of challenge? Try a striped shirt.
Is a striped shirt hard to match? - No
Lets look at some quick examples:
First, look at the shirt from a distance and decide on what color you primarily see. Based on this color, add a coordinating color tie. However, be careful, the best coordinated look for a striped shirt needs to be in the pattern AND color. For example, if you see mostly navy blue stripes, add a yellow tie with a box pattern or a pin dot or polka dot patter. Today, you can even add a beautiful paisley pattern.
What did we just do? - Well, we took the stripes and set them off with boxes, paisley or dots. By doing this, we broke up the stripes on the shirt and introduced a breaking point which is a dissimilar pattern.
If you want you can even use diagonal stripes, just make sure that the stripes of the shirt and the stripes of the tie are two different sizes. Generally by two different sizes we mean at least a 2:1 ratio. If the stripes on the shirt are 1/4 inches, go with a tie that has stripes at least 1/2 inch. This will help the tie stand out rather than become a blur with the shirt.
Checkered Shirts
Coordinating a tie to a checkered shirt is the same as coordinating a tie to a striped shirt. The same rules apply, but in reverse. First, take a look at the shirt and decide on what the pronounced color is, then coordinate a matching color for the tie. Make sure the tie has in this case, diagonal stripes. This will make the checkered shirt look wonderful. Additionally, you can still use a pattern of boxes or dots on the tie, but again, make sure that the boxes or dots are larger than the check pattern.
Matching a Tie to a Suit
Coordinating a tie to a suit is very much like coordinating a tie to a shirt. There are 2 elements to consider. You need to consider first coordinating a color that goes with the suit, and then once you have decided on the color, look at the pattern.
Again the same rules apply. If the suit is one solid color, the job is easy. Put any solid color tie, or any color that coordinates well with any pattern that you like.
If the suit has chalk stripes - you know those faint thin stripes, then you can simply just follow the same rules as if the suit were a solid color.
If the stripes are very pronounced, wear any color tie that coordinates well with any pattern tie - except for stripes.
Bringing it all Together
If you haven't noticed, we have used the words match and coordinated very differently. Matching means the same, whereas coordinating means complimenting.
Therefore, when bringing it all together, try not to overdo the patterns. A striped, or checked or hound's-tooth suit requires a solid colored shirt and a patterned tie. For a solid color suit you can add a patterned shirt with a patterned tie, as long as the patterns differ.
See... It wasn't that hard after all!
Wearing a Tie
Avoid wearing clip-on ties, they are unprofessional.
The front point of your tie should be just long enough to touch the waist of your pants.
Your tie should be darker than the color of your shirt.
Avoid wearing ties that are too bright.
The general width of a tie is 3.5 inches, this width will not fall out of style.
The width of a tie should be approximately the same width of the coat's lapel, if the lapel is wide, the tie should be wide and if the lapel is narrow the tie should be narrow.
The knot of the tie should be proportional to the collar, it should not be too big where it spreads the collar or forces it open and it shouldn't be too small that it becomes lost in the collar.
The color of your tie should not clash with your outfit but the colors should not be so similar that they fade into the suit.
The main color of a patterned tie should complement your suit and the secondary color should pick up your shirt.
The texture of the tie should go with your outfit, for instance a shiny silk tie should go with a shiny silk shirt and a wool tie should be worn with a wool suit.
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