Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Dress shirts, ties, and dark suits

Worried about 'matching' your dress shirts and ties with that dark suit? Read on to see how you can find outfits that you may not have thought of.

Bold shirts call for dark ties

The key to pulling off a boldly colored dress shirt is to anchor it not only with a dark suit but with a dark tie as well. Let the shirt shine (see below).





















Check your stripes
Striped tie, checked shirt? No problem. Just make sure one of the base colors in the tie (black stripe, below) syncs up with the shirt checks.




















If you’re going to sport a striped shirt with a striped tie, think about balance. One of the stripe patterns should be wide (in the case below, it’s the shirt’s), while the other should be narrow. And either the shirt or the tie should be neutral—they both don’t need to be vibrantly colored.




















Printed shirts
A printed dress shirt, in a unique pattern like the one in the picture below, makes a statement. Match with a plain tie that pulls one color from the shirt's pattern.


















Basics on wearing a black dress shirt

  1. Wear at night only.
  2. Do not pair it with a white tie — you are not a mobster.
  3. Reach for a graphic, colorful tie (note: not white, see point 2 above).