TEN TIPS FOR "THE TIE"
-BUILD A COLLECTION OF TEN PLUS TIES
Do you use the same favorite one or two ties for all occasions that require you to wear a tie? Cease and desist immediately!
If you work at a job that requires you to wear a shirt and tie, you should have enough ties that you don’t have any repeat appearances for at least two weeks. The same tie shouldn't show up around your neck more than twice a month.
If you only wear a tie once a week for church and other special occasions like wedding receptions or meetings you should never be wearing the same tie more than once a month.
Building a collection of at least ten ties and stepping away from the one-for-all favorite tie is easy and gives off the impression that you care.. even if you don’t.
-DIFFERENT KNOTS FOR DIFFERENT TIES
In your ten plus tie collection you will have ties of all different fabrics, widths, and lengths.
Some knots will look better than others depending on the tie. The basic rule of thumb is: “slim ties should have slim knots and wide ties should have wide/thick knots.”
The same simple rule applies to the collar of the shirt, If you have a shirt with a large collar wear a larger tie. If it has a smaller collar wear a slimmer tie with it.
It's really easy. If I can memorize 3 or 4 types of knots, than you can. If you are like me and your dad only taught you one way to tie a knot, use this chart:
-THE TIE DIMPLE
Without exception, your tie should always have a dimple in it.
It shouldn't be a deep crater that ends up looking like Chevy Chase’s chin. Keep it simple and only slightly noticeable.
-THE SOLID BLACK TIE
You need to own at least one solid black tie, preferably two. The best case scenario is to have a wide solid black tie & a slim solid black tie.
Despite what you may think, solid black ties are the opposite of boring. They are sophisticated, classy and modern. The solid black tie was fashionable before you were ever born and it will remain fashionable long after you are gone.
They are usually very inexpensive and very easy to find.
-THE SLIM TIE
You should own a few.
Unless you are wearing a black suit, white shirt and black tie a la Reservoir Dogs, slim ties should be used on days you are not wearing a suit coat. They still look fine with a suit, but slim ties work better and look sharper when worn as a shirt & tie combo only.
My recommendation here is to avoid stripes and stick to either solid or plaid slim ties.
-GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN
Use common sense and don’t over think it. Here are some pretty simple and straightforward guidelines:
If you are wearing a solid dress shirt, ANY pattern of tie will work perfect.
If you are wearing a dress shirt with vertical strips or checkers, avoid wearing a horizontal or diagonal striped tie and visa versa.
-SHIRT COLOR ,TIE COLOR
Simple. Match like colors with other like colors.
If you can’t play Columns on your Sega Game Gear, Dr. Mario on your NES, or even Bejeweled on your PC because you are colorblind like my brothers Chris & Nathan, you will need to have your wife help you with this. She will be happy to help and will appreciate your efforts.
-THE SPORTS TIE/ CARTOON TIE
I love sports and my favorite teams just as much as the next man.. probably even more so. With that being said, if you are over 16 years of age I forbid you to ever again wear a necktie with your favorite sports team on it. Outside of being an effective not so subtle F! YOU at church the day after a rivalry game, they do you absolutely no favors. It looks tacky, sloppy, and doesn’t mesh well with anything.
The same goes for cartoon character ties. They too are usually cheaply made and even more cheap looking.
If a family member or friend gave you the tie you don’t have to throw it away or burn it, but you don’t have to wear it either.
-THE SE7EN DOLLAR TIE
You can get thousands of good looking, high quality, name brand ties for $7 or less at places like Ross Dress For Less, TJ Maxx, Amazon, and Ebay.
For your slim ties, I suggest Calvin Klein’s Slim line.
-LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
When you have finished tying your knot of choice with accompanying dimple, slide the tie into place.
The bottom tip of your tie should be just barely touching the top of your belt.
If it is longer or shorter than that, START OVER! Don’t try to make lazy adjustments; It will only take you 30 seconds longer. Trust me. The final masterpiece will be worth the extra attempts. The more times you do it the easier it gets.
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