Here are some of this weeks search terms that brought readers to FTWU’s virtual door. Lots of weather related searches, like matching with coats and sweaters etc so lead off is this:
1) Blue sweater with a charcoal suit? - FTWU says yes. A blue sweater will work well with a charcoal suit, be it Navy or a lighter blue. Charcoal is versatile and goes with almost everything. Posts on this blog will give you visual confirmations on that.
2) Green ties go with what? - Green is an under-appreciated color. It works well with Navy, with Black, with Brown and with Camel. These are a few colors off the top of my head, many others work as well. Some shades are better than others and to pair exactly which with which needs a case by case look over, but as a rule green is good.
3) Is blue and white elegant for an affair? - A solid navy blue suit together with a white shirt can be elegant and quite so. Add a white linen pocket square and a silver or cream tie and viola! Please bear in mind though that there is elegant and dressy and then there is proper protocol. If the affair is black tie and you show wearing the above mentioned ensemble you will be elegant but its not what was called for, so always consider and be sensitive to the host's wishes.
4) What color tie goes with a red shirt? - Hmmmmm....Do I have to answer this? ;-). Seriously though, I cannot imagine in what setting you would want a tie with a RED shirt. If its red stripped on a white field or something of that nature, then stick to a subtle type of tie as you will already have enough attention in the shirt.
5) How to match suit colours? - I imagine that this question meant how to match complimenting items to a suit and if that is the case, I think that the answer is that a beginner should look to nature for help. Usually the way that things grow, the colors that you see in flowers and in articles of nature are a good guide. Seriously, go outside in the Summer, look at trees in the Fall, and head to a florist and admire G-d's Handiwork. He does an amazing job of decorating :-)
6) Suit, shirt, and tie combinations for an interview? - In one word "Subtle". Here is not where you want to make fashion statements. Here is where you want to blend in as far as dress code and shine as far as what you can offer to the company. Navy Suit, (clean) White shirt, Blue tie with a subtle pattern, polished shoes and thats all. If its a firm that every one wears pocket squares and you know this for a fact then wear a solid white or light blue square. Last thing you want is them to be focusing on your clothing and not you.
7) Will an Orange tie work with a yellow shirt? - There is a major difference between matching and working. Orange and Yellow match, but they will come off really strong together. Dont forget to bring the sunglasses :-)
Have a great week and a Happy Hannukah for those that are celebrating!
Remember, with a few shopping weeks left till Christmas, www.FourInHand.com is on sale on Cashmeres!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Joe's Dilemma
Joe is the subject of this past week's Sully, I lied Post.
He liked what I suggested with regard to a mint shirt but when he went shopping was unable to find one. Emailing me that he did get a Lilac shirt I told him that the orange tie wouldn't work with the lilac. I suggested that he return the Lilac shirt and sent him a Pink shirt, replacement tie and alternate square.
Here is the result:
The High Res shots are Here and Here and if you cant see them its a combination of Black Suit, Pink Shirt, Burgundy and Multicolor square (all colors of the square working with the black in the suit) and the brother of that previous orange tie with more of a cranberry/Bloody orange type col0ration). I like it.
Have a great weekend!
He liked what I suggested with regard to a mint shirt but when he went shopping was unable to find one. Emailing me that he did get a Lilac shirt I told him that the orange tie wouldn't work with the lilac. I suggested that he return the Lilac shirt and sent him a Pink shirt, replacement tie and alternate square.
Here is the result:
The High Res shots are Here and Here and if you cant see them its a combination of Black Suit, Pink Shirt, Burgundy and Multicolor square (all colors of the square working with the black in the suit) and the brother of that previous orange tie with more of a cranberry/Bloody orange type col0ration). I like it.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tie By Tie # 1
Lead off is a series of ties that were really popular in the first run I had ever done, the wide chevron weave. Of course, as we went along I made significant changes in the construction that would overall increase the value of the ties, to wit, wool interlinings, self tipping, and bar tack closures. In the maiden run there were only two colors done but as we went along the reorder increased to 5 different colors.
Here I show the Navy and Pink Weave with a light blue textured shirt and a navy suit. The square is a small floral print in Navy.
If you have been following you will know that I am a fan of Blues with Pinks, and while the tie is nice enough in its own right being blue and pink, I think that the pink shirt adds some flavor to the ensemble as well.
Here is what the square looks like out of the pocket.
The red and white version (which was one of the two colors of the first run) is vibrant enough to wake up even a white shirt as I show it below.
Of course, red white and Light Blue shirt is nice as well.
For a little more vibrancy in the pocket square I brought this rainbow square in, but wanted to be careful that it shouldn't be positioned so that it looks too matched with the tie, something that in general one should avoid. As the reds are not a proper match, the risk is less but still...
Which looks like this tucked in.
Of interesting and humorous note, when I first showed these ties (the red) to a couple of people, I got comments like "Cat in the Hat?" but they sold right out!
Here I show the Navy and Pink Weave with a light blue textured shirt and a navy suit. The square is a small floral print in Navy.
If you have been following you will know that I am a fan of Blues with Pinks, and while the tie is nice enough in its own right being blue and pink, I think that the pink shirt adds some flavor to the ensemble as well.
Here is what the square looks like out of the pocket.
The red and white version (which was one of the two colors of the first run) is vibrant enough to wake up even a white shirt as I show it below.
Of course, red white and Light Blue shirt is nice as well.
For a little more vibrancy in the pocket square I brought this rainbow square in, but wanted to be careful that it shouldn't be positioned so that it looks too matched with the tie, something that in general one should avoid. As the reds are not a proper match, the risk is less but still...
Which looks like this tucked in.
Of interesting and humorous note, when I first showed these ties (the red) to a couple of people, I got comments like "Cat in the Hat?" but they sold right out!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sully...I Lied
Who can forget that line from the Ahhhnold Classic, Commando:
"Sully, remember when I told you I would kill you last? I lied"
Well I didn't lie intentionally here and I never meant that the Tie by Tie posts would take precedence over everything and in fact I did start with the retakes but today a customer asked me a question pertaining to a black suit being worn to the Company Holiday Party with this tie and this square. I have already illustrated how a black suit works well with the Tie and square in More on Black and Orange . Here the question was what color shirt might I pair with this.
Figuring that white was too plain for the party and would also not get much use afterwards, and cream was just a step away from white I suggested a mint green shirt or a shirt with green Stripes:
Here is the result (and I didnt have a great minty colored shirt for this other than the kids shirt which didnt photograph well enough to show the color.). The green striped Hickey Freeman His First shirt shows enough of the concept that Black and Green works well and orange blends in nicely. To get a good feel for the combo I have also included a High res Link.
As always I welcome thoughts and comments.
Which is the sum of these parts:
This link will take you to the High res. I think its worth a gander.
Finally, here is the mint. This particular mint was too pale. A solid darker mint will really give this tie a new dimension.
"Sully, remember when I told you I would kill you last? I lied"
Well I didn't lie intentionally here and I never meant that the Tie by Tie posts would take precedence over everything and in fact I did start with the retakes but today a customer asked me a question pertaining to a black suit being worn to the Company Holiday Party with this tie and this square. I have already illustrated how a black suit works well with the Tie and square in More on Black and Orange . Here the question was what color shirt might I pair with this.
Figuring that white was too plain for the party and would also not get much use afterwards, and cream was just a step away from white I suggested a mint green shirt or a shirt with green Stripes:
Here is the result (and I didnt have a great minty colored shirt for this other than the kids shirt which didnt photograph well enough to show the color.). The green striped Hickey Freeman His First shirt shows enough of the concept that Black and Green works well and orange blends in nicely. To get a good feel for the combo I have also included a High res Link.
As always I welcome thoughts and comments.
Which is the sum of these parts:
This link will take you to the High res. I think its worth a gander.
Finally, here is the mint. This particular mint was too pale. A solid darker mint will really give this tie a new dimension.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
What I have learned
A few years back, and the way the time flies it might be more than a few, (hey, wasn't the whole Y2K scare just three or four years ago?) I came across the following list from comedian Dave Berry, called the 25 things that I have learned in my 50 years. Here are some of the highlights from the list and clicking on this Google Link will give you various forms of the rest:
- The badness of a movie id directly proportional to the amount of helicopters in it.
- You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
- The most valuable function performed by the federal Government is Entertainment
- The most valuable function performed by the federal government is entertainment.
- You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
- The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
- The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.
- There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
- People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
- If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
- You should not confuse your career with your life.
- A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
- No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
- Your friends love you anyway.
While not as entertaining as Dave's list, one of the things yours truly has learned is that you can sell a heck of alot more ties with better pictures than with shoddy ones. In the early days I wasn't that handy with a digital camera, but the technology has evolved and its getting harder and harder to screw up pictures. Despite that it seems that I am doing my darnedest to fudge them and most of the time succeeding.
My defense is that silks are really hard to capture without the correct lighting as they reflect the light and the digital camera judges color based on the light intacke (kewl, I know) so flash photography is hard here. The blog has shown me that the best manner to shoot ties is in action.
With that in mind, I have decided to retake lots of the pictures on my site which in all honesty are not portrayed in the pic as nice as they are in real life and thereby kill two birds with one stone. Adding visual content to the Blog and www.FourInHand.com maintenance.
Of course, should you wish to thumb you nose at a look I picture, or should you like to see the tie that I have used with other options please let me know via comment, vote or email. While a vote with your wallet is by far the best vote of confidence you can offer :-) , I will take anything you have to say, seriously.
Enough talk for now, tomorrow we start a series of posts called "Tie by Tie".
- The badness of a movie id directly proportional to the amount of helicopters in it.
- You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
- The most valuable function performed by the federal Government is Entertainment
- The most valuable function performed by the federal government is entertainment.
- You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
- The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
- The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.
- There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
- People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
- If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
- You should not confuse your career with your life.
- A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
- No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
- Your friends love you anyway.
While not as entertaining as Dave's list, one of the things yours truly has learned is that you can sell a heck of alot more ties with better pictures than with shoddy ones. In the early days I wasn't that handy with a digital camera, but the technology has evolved and its getting harder and harder to screw up pictures. Despite that it seems that I am doing my darnedest to fudge them and most of the time succeeding.
My defense is that silks are really hard to capture without the correct lighting as they reflect the light and the digital camera judges color based on the light intacke (kewl, I know) so flash photography is hard here. The blog has shown me that the best manner to shoot ties is in action.
With that in mind, I have decided to retake lots of the pictures on my site which in all honesty are not portrayed in the pic as nice as they are in real life and thereby kill two birds with one stone. Adding visual content to the Blog and www.FourInHand.com maintenance.
Of course, should you wish to thumb you nose at a look I picture, or should you like to see the tie that I have used with other options please let me know via comment, vote or email. While a vote with your wallet is by far the best vote of confidence you can offer :-) , I will take anything you have to say, seriously.
Enough talk for now, tomorrow we start a series of posts called "Tie by Tie".
Monday, December 7, 2009
I see the light
Light colored ties can be worn regularly and need not be reserved for affairs and elegant occasions so long as care is taken to highlight the tie by way of contrast with the shirt so that the tie stands out somewhat.
Here are some examples of the same two light colored ties and the differences the shirt can make in the overall appearance of the ensemble.
This English twill four fold tie goes from the somewhat drab against this white shirt: (In all cases I utilized a white linen square so that it doesnt pull the eye away from the tie which is what I wanted to show)
To looking like this when placed against a blue shirt:
This white woven pin dotted tie looks like this against the white shirt:
But comes more alive when placed against the blue.
Here are some examples of the same two light colored ties and the differences the shirt can make in the overall appearance of the ensemble.
This English twill four fold tie goes from the somewhat drab against this white shirt: (In all cases I utilized a white linen square so that it doesnt pull the eye away from the tie which is what I wanted to show)
To looking like this when placed against a blue shirt:
This white woven pin dotted tie looks like this against the white shirt:
But comes more alive when placed against the blue.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Queries of the week – Volume 3
Here are some of this weeks search terms that brought readers to FTWU's virtual door.
1) What type pocket square with stripe tie? - In general keep to different type patterns and colors when adding a square, so if your tie is striped then you might want to introduce a solid square or if you are more comfortable mixing patterns a patterned square (thats not a stripe) will work. You certainly want to avoid too much of a similar thing in the same ensemble, be it color or pattern.
2) Rust and black shirt - Black suit burgundy shirt - Brown suit and red shirt - This type of question has come up alot recently. My feeling is that anything with a dark shirt is going to be suitable only for clubbing (party going) or the other type of "clubbing" as in mafia type swinging of the baseball bat work. Otherwise when in a work or dress setting, leave the dark shirt home.
3) Best tie for black suit beige shirt - As posted in this blog, you can go almost anywhere with this combination. If its a somber occasion, then darker colors will work. (AVOID MEDIUM BLUE - NAVY THOUGH). A more festive one and burgundy works well as does orange and red. (But are you really wearing a black suit to a truly festive occasion?)
4) Blue shirt with cream suit - A beautiful combination. think of a nice almost clear day with a blue sky and some milky white clouds. Soothing, no? This link to the right (cream suits) shows some nice Cream and Blue pics.
5) Burgundy scarf and camel jacket (coat)? - FTWU says no and I intentionally left that combo out when photographing in this post as I think that it looks BAD.
6) Checkered shirt with suit? - When selecting checked patterned shirts care must be taken to ensure that the checks aren't too large which will take the shirt out of the dressy and put it squarely (I couldnt resist, please pardon the pun :-( ) into the casual realm. Also avoid too many colors in the checks (plaid) of the shirt which will also make it too fruity looking and sporty as well.
7) Dark brown sport coat pink shirt? - Dark brown and Pink work together and work together nicely at that. Keep the Pink to a light pink or at best medium. Too dark will kill the look.
Have a great week!
PS: Paul, go easy on me ;-)
1) What type pocket square with stripe tie? - In general keep to different type patterns and colors when adding a square, so if your tie is striped then you might want to introduce a solid square or if you are more comfortable mixing patterns a patterned square (thats not a stripe) will work. You certainly want to avoid too much of a similar thing in the same ensemble, be it color or pattern.
2) Rust and black shirt - Black suit burgundy shirt - Brown suit and red shirt - This type of question has come up alot recently. My feeling is that anything with a dark shirt is going to be suitable only for clubbing (party going) or the other type of "clubbing" as in mafia type swinging of the baseball bat work. Otherwise when in a work or dress setting, leave the dark shirt home.
3) Best tie for black suit beige shirt - As posted in this blog, you can go almost anywhere with this combination. If its a somber occasion, then darker colors will work. (AVOID MEDIUM BLUE - NAVY THOUGH). A more festive one and burgundy works well as does orange and red. (But are you really wearing a black suit to a truly festive occasion?)
4) Blue shirt with cream suit - A beautiful combination. think of a nice almost clear day with a blue sky and some milky white clouds. Soothing, no? This link to the right (cream suits) shows some nice Cream and Blue pics.
5) Burgundy scarf and camel jacket (coat)? - FTWU says no and I intentionally left that combo out when photographing in this post as I think that it looks BAD.
6) Checkered shirt with suit? - When selecting checked patterned shirts care must be taken to ensure that the checks aren't too large which will take the shirt out of the dressy and put it squarely (I couldnt resist, please pardon the pun :-( ) into the casual realm. Also avoid too many colors in the checks (plaid) of the shirt which will also make it too fruity looking and sporty as well.
7) Dark brown sport coat pink shirt? - Dark brown and Pink work together and work together nicely at that. Keep the Pink to a light pink or at best medium. Too dark will kill the look.
Have a great week!
PS: Paul, go easy on me ;-)
rust and black shirt
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