Thursday, December 31, 2009

Tie By Tie 11 (Better Resolving)

Here is a relatively simple and painless resolution one can make this eve of 2010.  Resolve to make a concerted effort to pay attention to your clothing coordination.  This can be accomplished by many ways, one of which is following this blog and asking others (like myself but not limited to) for help so that instead of looking like this (which despite what you may have read elsewhere is just plain... wrong on so many accounts):



You end up looking something like this (Grey/Brown with rust wide stripe suit, Blue Shirt,  Medium Stripe Tie in Blue and Cream with Yellow Floral Square):



With the square detail here:



Or this with the cream twill shirt:



Or the same pattern tie in the brown and beige against the blue shirt:



And for a little more color switching for the burgundy and blue floral square to look like this:



With the square detail here:



Of course, resolving to avoid something like this is also a nice idea ;-)



Thanks for making 2009 a great year for FTWU (this blog)  by following and as the consistently increasing readership stats (and purchases) have shown for approving.  Here's looking forward to an even better and more exciting 2010.

Have a great,  successful and most of all a pleasant 2010.

:-)

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Tie By Tie 10 (Been there done that)

I have done something similar to this in my post a browner brown but then it was with a blue shirt.  Here we went with a light purple (Hickey Freeman His First) shirt, the eggplant colored tie and the blue (to mix things up a bit ) parasol pocket square.  The high res picture can be seen here and its worth a look as it better depicts the texture and color of the tie and how it blends with the outfit.



Here is a detail of the square.  The flash hit the silk in a way to show the woven in swirl pattern which is usually not visible without studying the square.



Finally, this tie is one that I skipped over when we ordered for the men and we only did it for the kids.  Despite it selling very well for the kids I have no regrets not ordering it for the men as I felt it was too busy.  I did mention this before in a Q&A post when the question of Burgundy with Olive came up.  Here though I would recommend switching the square for a plain one as this tie is all you need in the busy department :)

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tie By Tie 9b (More Showing Off)

I like this tie.  After using it with the charcoal suit that was out, I thought we should take it one step further and put it to use with a Navy Suit, Light Blue Shirt and complementary Green with silver floral Square:



And then for a little spin on things, lets keep the blue shirt but swap the navy suit for a brown suit to show just how far this tie, with the pink silver and ecru stripe can go.



With a square detail here:



Now, lets bring in the pink shirt which also works nicely with the brown suit.  Swap the square out for, the parasol square in the brown tones and this is what you get, (with a High Res of the ensemble here).  I liked the way this combo came out so much that had I not been lazy I would have used it as the tie shot on the site. (It did help that the flash was higher power and less yellow tones showed on the tie than yesterdays post).



Here is the square detail with the high res here.



Your Thoughts?

Monday, December 28, 2009

Tie By Tie 9 (Showing Off)

When you turn down a long term lease on your property from a major land developer, that usually means that you believe in what you are doing and its potential.  Thats pretty much what just happened here, so you guys are gonna have to help me here and make sure that you keep on buying and keep me in business so that when you look back in 5 years from now, you say, I remember when Jonathan turned down the long term lease from that major land developer, cause he KNEW that he was gonna be big one day...

:-)

Anyway, here is a favorite tie of mine that went relatively unotticed.  The silver and Pink Twill weave woven. Shown here with a blue textured shirt (used for color as I think that we might be better served using a flat woven shirt due to the very textured nature of the tie) , charcoal Grey Suit that was out already, and a floral burgundy square to add some life in the charcoaly mix.



Here is a detail of the square with a high Res to be found here.  I took the high res because it allows for the colors of the square to be seen in all their glory, a truly beautiful square.



Here with a grey shirt.


Here I am just showing off that this tie square and suit works well with pink in addition to the two shirts shown above.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

More Interview Gear

Season's Greetings to all.

No queries of the week this week due to the fact that most of the search terms were been there done that terms (meaning they were either covered in previous q & a posts or they were basic concepts covered in pictorial posts of the past. )

Here is a quick workup for an i-banking interview. In any interview the idea is to have your clothing be less noticeable and you more noticeable. Have them focusing on YOU and not what you are wearing. I would recommend wearing a square only if you know that its commonly worn in the office you are interviewing in and even after you have ascertained that KISS it - Keep it simple stupid and go with solids whites or at most blue, linen (recommended) or silk.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

All against a white shirt and light blue linen square. The question was asked based on a charcoal suit so its what I used.

A patterned blue and navy tie. Its there and its quiet. Thats all you want in an interview. It says, See? I do what I am supposed to.



Burgundy themed is also OK as long as its not a strong burgundy. again, avoid directing their eyes to your tie. Here is a grey and burgundy tie which works well with the charcoal and white. Again, subtle and not much more.



The same here. Its a burgundy and gold weave but as neither color is too strong it comes off as a subtle burgundy tie, with dots. Classic.



Remember, they aren't looking to hire your clothing, they are looking to hire you!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Tie By Tie 8 (Natural Progressions)

From the not so conventional charcoal suit/pink shirt/burgundy tie we progressed to the charcoal suit/blue shirt/ burgundy tie.  The natural course of progression would be switching the grey suit for a navy suit while leaving the burgundy tie.  I switched the square for one that works well with most colors but especially so with navy. (Bear in mind that in a regular situation the square wouldnt be sticking this far out of the pocket but more like the pictures below as in the red and brown ties).



Here is a detail of the square:



Which progresses to the red tie in the same design with that same suit, shirt and square:



Naturally progressing to the brown tie. (while I am a big fan of brown paired with blue, this brown happens to have a blue weft which makes it especially fitting for pairing with a blue shirt)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Tie By Tie 7 (Pink and Burgundy)

When it comes to classic men's clothing and other matters sartorial,  Will Boehlke the author of A Suitable Wardrobe is a veritable wellspring of knowledge.  About a month ago on StyleForum.net Will commented that pink and maroon naturally compliment each other.  I don't always agree with Will when it comes to color coordination but with pink and maroon, I think he's got it right.

Here are some pictures that bear that thought out.  (If you look at the high res shot you will see that the tie itself is a deep burgundy/maroon with  stripes of pink (as well as gold) in it and is quite nice even before you put it with a shirt, suit and square.)

In the first shot we show the charcoal grey suit with pink shirt with floral square again and here enhanced with the burgundy tie.  If you look at the tie you will see that its one with a different colored warp (or weft, I don't remember which is which) and that accounts for the shimmering iridescence and the multi dimensional appearance of the tie.



Swapping the shirt for a light blue textured weave will give you a softer yet no less nice effect.



And here you have the detail of the square.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tie By Tie 6 (Out of Sequence)

I often snap a bunch of photos of items I intend to write about and don't get to them till I am home for the evening when I can crop, upload and compose the post.  Its convenient because this way I don't have to worry about being in the store while writing and can take my time on the post and publish at leisure.  The downside of course is that when I mess up on the pictures (i.e. the exposure isn't correct and the colors are off) I am stuck.

That is pretty much what happened today, with what was supposed to be a continuation of yesterdays jacket shirt and square.  Unfortunately, what should have been Tie By Tie 5b will have to wait till tomorrow or the day after.

Instead, I present Tie By Tie 6, with the anthracite 4 fold pin dot tie, against a pink shirt with a charcoal suit with a feint blue stripe.  Grey (even charcoal) works with the pink shirt, and the square which is a green background with small flowers in pink and lilac offer a soft break from the harshness of the otherwise unbroken charcoal jacket.



Here is a detail of the square.  Have I mentioned my love for pastels?

Monday, December 21, 2009

Tie By Tie 5 (The Pin Dot Staples)

As posted before, a classic pin dot should be a staple in every man's wardrobe as they are versatile, and add enough to take a tie from the boring solid to the subtle pattern.

Here you have a Silver Pin Dot Four Fold tie against a Brown Hickey Freeman Sport Coat with a Blue shirt and floral print square (Forgot to upload the close up of the square) .  Granted Silver is not required owning like other staple colors but here the concept is shown that a pin dot can break up the monotony of the solid in a soft way.  Simple and understated yet nice.



For the more adventurous types or the more adventurous side in you here its shown with a pink shirt.  Clearly, this makes more of a statement.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Queries of the Week – Volume 5

Here are some of this weeks search terms that brought readers to FTWU’s virtual door.

1) Can one wear a plaid shirt with a paisley tie? - Depending on the size of the plaid and the paisley it can work but care must be made not to have the shirt and tie compete with each other in how busy this can look.So the answer is , yes it can, but not always.  Too big a plaid should be reserved for casual and tie-less.  Smaller plaids are OK and paisley will work there.

2) What tie colors for an olive shirt? - Burgundy, Navy, Black, are a few of the classic colors that come to mind that will work against an olive shirt.  Suit colors will govern though which.

3) Brown suit with a grey shirt - This works as well and I like the combo.  As I have mentioned before, try and keep the grey in the shirt lighter rather than darker as too dark will always dress down any ensemble.

4) Purple stripe tie with blue check shirt? - The checks and the strips off the bat might compete with each other and the purple against the blue will add more negative oompf to it, and will probably take it over the top. Without a visual my initial response will be to avoid.


5) Burgundy ties green shirt - Depending on the green, this can look really sharp. We had a great deep Plummy/burgundy tie with dark olive green paisleys running through it that sold marvelously. Of course it was more for events than for regular business and I Imagine that the question is asked with that in mind.

6) How far out does a pocket square extend - My pictures on the blog are misleading, because I often pull the square out further than it should be and I do that to give an idea of what the square looks like and why I put it in the particular ensemble.  In reality it should just peak out of the pocket to break up the breast of the jacket. Perhaps a little more.  certainly not enough to take over the whole left breast and have the eye drawn to there and away from the Shirt/Tie which lines up with the persons face.

7) How far down should a tie go? - Nowadays the best place for the tie to end is either just at the tip of the belt or in the middle of the belt buckle. The Italians like to see it ending a little higher than that.

Have a great week all!

PS:  Cashmere sweaters now under 200 dollars  Cashmere scarves 20% off . Still time enough to get them to you before the Holidays!

Tie By Tie 4b (In Practice)

Pardon the low res shot, but here is a picture sent to me by a customer/reader (Jason who commented earlier) of the darker blue shirt with the lighter colored tie.  Jason has it against the Navy jacket/suit.  I had it against the brown.  Either way.  First shot shows the floral square.



And with a contrast border white with light blue border.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Tie By Tie 4a (The Spoken Request)

Off to a Holiday party but here are some shots taken when I was in the store upon Jason's request from the previous posts comment's.

Links and commentary to follow at a later time:

EDIT: Links and comments inserted

Here is the English Twill Tie posted earlier against a French Blue shirt with the Hickey Freeman Jacket and Royal Blue Floral Square.  If you look closely you can see the blue in the jacket coming alive in with this shirt and square.


As Jason mentioned to me in an email (correctly so) the darker blue really makes the combo pop.  Not so with the Lighter blue shirt:



The lighter blue shirt with a white and blue pin dot tie and a light blue linen square.


And as per the original request the chevron tie in off white with the floral square.


Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Tie By Tie # 4 (the unspoken request)

In finishing up the chevrons we were left with the off white tie which I picked as an occasion/special event tie.  I did mention in a previous post, (I see the light) that light colored ties can be incorporated into regular dress settings when the tie is properly contrasted against a darker colored shirt. (Incidentally, I named this post the unspoken request because a customer mentioned that they enjoyed the I see the light post and the contrasting of light colored ties against darker shirts.

Here is the off white chevron using two shirts, one lighter and one slightly darker.

Also in reviewing yesterday's pictures I was wondering if the square was too busy in an already busy jacket so I in the second pic I swapped the square out for an off white linen square.





Finally, for the person that rated the last post a "poor".  You have to comment and elaborate as to why you thought it poor so we can have a discussion as to why I did what I did and why you hated it :-)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tie By Tie # 3 (Variations by Request)

Yesterday I got a request to mix these ties up a little with patterned sportcoats, and today I deliver:

Here is yesterday's tie paired with 2 Hickey Freeman His First sports coats.  I used the His First line as that is what I had ready and available from my kids shop.  In fact I liked the black check one so much I ordered it for myself.  The texture in the wool jackets works well with the texture of the tie and this time fearing texture overload I left the shirt a non textured blue tone on tone.  For the square I used the parasol but this time in the Navy version to bring out the Navy in the black jacket and to complement the brown jacket as well.

For your viewing pleasure:



And the square up close.  Note how the Square works against the shirt and picks up the blue in the jacket:



Switching coats to the Brown Hickey Freeman His First gives you this. (Brown and Blue is great together so the shirt is really nice here:



With the square tucked away:

Monday, December 14, 2009

Tie By Tie # 2

In the same medium chevron weave that we did in the first Tie by Tie we did 5 colors.  Earlier we worked up red and white and the blue and pink.  Now we have a Blue and white (the second of the original colors) and a blue/grey and muted yellow.

I put the blue/grey/yellow with a blue shirt and a red floral on navy square against a navy suit.  I thought appropriate a shirt that was a non textured one due to the fact that the tie gives off a heavy texture.  Here is what it looked like:



Flipping that same square over so that the green shows  you get this, and while I don't condone wearing your square this far out of the pocket I wanted to give an idea of coloring.


Here is the square in all its glory:


And in this shot you get a yellow patterned honey jar square to brighten up the jacket a bit.  The detail of the square is below.



With the blue and white, I reversed my logic above and went textured.  While not that practical for a business setting I thought it sharp for a social one.  Shown here with the honey jar patterned square and blue and burgundy textured shirt. Unfortunately this was one of the times that my camera zoomed in and got every detail of the textured shirt and every line of the chevron weave making it look like overkill.  In regular lighting and focus it came across as dapper.



And here is the square detail: