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Tie One On

Hey it’s Friday again so it must mean it’s time for another posting on clothes. Last time I told you about suits and how to select a suit.

We went with classic navy. Remember?

Now we come to another perilous area. The necktie.

I know most guys hate to wear neckties. Why? Because they can be uncomfortable but your tie feels too tight it may actually be your shirt that’s the problem. Have you gained a little weight lately? Most men don’t know their neck size (again this is something your tailor can help you with.)

Hey maybe I should have done a posting on shirts before ties?

Well maybe next time. Suffice to say that you need a white shirt to go with your suit. Don’t try anything fancy – this is your interview suit remember?

So on to neckties. This is a very very simple process.

You have a navy suit, you have a white shirt, go and buy a striped tie.

There are many many many different types of ties. Too many in fact; especially for the first time buyer. However like a good navy suit certain tie patterns remain classic and timeless.

The striped tie is one of those. So if you want to make this particularly painless just go and buy a tie like the one pictured.

The basic rule for a tie is this: repeating pattern. As a matter of fact I would like to repeat that: repeating pattern.

Basically a repeating pattern tie has stripes, dots, diamonds or similar small designes which repeat through the length of the tie.

Again they are classic and timeless and will look good no matter what the style is.

Stay away from novelty ties for an interview. What are novelty ties? Well a Daffy Duck tie for example or any tie with a picture or funny design. That includes those stupid ties with piano keys running the length of them, ties with golf balls or clubs on them (unless they are in a teeny tiny repeating pattern) or any other crap that you see on a cheap tie you get for Christmas.

Rule of thumb: ties you get as gifts are not appropriate for interview wear 99% of the time.

Also don’t wear those awful flowery ties that have no discernable pattern and just look like the cat puked on it. Let some other schmuck wear that crap. And I know what you are thinking – that sounds pretty boring but ask your self this: Would a sophisticated gentleman like James Bond sully his navy suit with a cheap novelty tie?

Nope, not a chance and neither should you.

By the way not all striped ties are good looking.

People often worry about what colour tie goes with what suit. Well luckily a navy suit is a versatile palette that you can spice up with a variety of different colours.

The easiest colour to match with a navy suit is maroon. A maroon tie (or one with maroon as it’s main colour) is the classic colour match for a navy suit. Note that maroon is not bright red it is more muted.

Also you can use a blue tie (surprise) but be careful that it isn’t a real light blue or it will look washed out. A blue and white striped tie looks (like the one shown here) phenomenal with a navy suit.

Additionally a tie with a deep gold (like the one above) as it’s main color works well also.

BTW there is a trend to solid color ties lately with no pattern. These don’t work well with a white shirt. There’s nothing wrong with them and they look very sharp with the right combination of shirt but don’t wear it for the interview.

Now, buying a tie. First of all it has to be one that you tie yourself not a clip on tie.

Also it has to be 100% silk. No polyester or all the fancy words for polyester. I once paid over 100.00 for a tie that had some weird combination of materials other than silk. Boy, did I feel ripped off.

Luckily the same place you buy your suit will generally have a good selection of ties.

Tell your sales clerk that you want a conservative tie (you have to use the word conservative with these guys or trust me they will try to sell you all kinds of weird shit). And if you say I’d like a nice classic striped tie they will pretty much give you a perfect one for your navy suit.

Of course you have to learn how to tie a proper knot as well (he half Windsor knot is the most versatile)
. There are all kinds of good sites on line that show this. But you should learn how to tie your own tie.
Like this one.

And your tie should hang so that the end of it just covers the buckle of your belt. Not just above, it will emphasize your gut.

Oh yeah and get a tie clip.

Previous posts on this subject: The Interview Suit The Interview Shoe (endorsed by the Manolo!) and Casual Fridays