Suit without tie guidelines?

[shilleck]

Clooney always looks good in a suit plus movie star's are the only ones worthy of wearing a suit without tie, lesser mortals would just look silly.

 

[Romeomikehotel]

I'm going to revive this old thread in the hopes of possibly clarifying this question with my personal experience.

Ill start with the fact that I wear a suit to work every day of the week. In addition, every day I do not wear a tie. This is due to two factors completely unrelated to style but I think one of them ties (hah) back into the style discussion well. First, on a daily basis I don't like the feeling of the top button being closed or a tie around my neck which in hot Fl weather is most unpleasant. And secondly, and this is important, (I'm a fiancial advisor) I've had clients and prospective clients tell me that they like that I don't wear a tie as it makes them feel comfortable. Originally I used this reason as justification for not wearing a tie because I just didn't like to, (I'm just learning to become style conscious, in the past I've been all about comfort) now I do it as I feel the choice affects my income.

Those two reasons are why I do not and will not wear a tie with a suit on the large majority of occasions. That being said, neither of those reasons are related to style and when it comes to what I think looks best, I'll readily admit that a well executed suit, shirt & tie combination blows my day-to-day look right out of the water in my opinion. Now though that I have been paying more attention to style it has brought me to a dilemma or, maybe, a hypothesis; is style, like the English language, something that can adapt and change definitions over time based on commonly accepted practices or is it something concrete and defined which must be worked towards attaining?

From what I have seen, the suit and no tie look is becoming much more popular among all industries which still require suits as day-to-day attire. Which begs the question, is this now the new style or is this an abhoration of what style really is and should be? As far as an answer I don't have one but I do know that people have told me how my style choices affect how they feel which is what I will continue to base my daily attire on. That said, a full suit and tie at its best will always looks better than a suit and no tie at its best, in my opinion.

 

[circumspice]

It is not a forgiving look. George Clooney can do it because he looks like George Clooney.

I work in high tech, and some Californian tech executives like this look.... they don't look, but more importantly, are not built like Clooney.

If you are carrying extra weight, the reality is that an unbuttoned suit with no tie tends to make you look disheveled, not suave.

If you are willing to experiment, I'd propose acquiring a navy and black silk knit ties - it would be interesting to see if you got different reactions. Knits are useful in that they easily slide up and down the spectrum of formality, especially in these two colors.

That all said, the general trend is men's clothing for a very long time has been towards less formality. DWW lays that out very well in this post - you may want to subscribe to that thread if you haven't already

https://www.styleforum.net/threads/...t-ii-a-new-hope.480819/page-1245#post-8879348

 

[aj805]

The many reasons to go tie-less today are understandable; but if you aren't going to wear that tie, then why wear a suit? To me, a tie is part of a suit. So, wear a SC and trousers instead, it's simple.

Even George Clooney doesn't escape that sensibility--he'd look better tie-less in a sport coat.

 

[Gus]

I've seen more European dudes pulling off a Spring/Summer more casual suit with a nice polo shirt and I think it looks great. Try a tan cotton with a dark blue polo or a navy cotton/linen with a white polo.