The Dark Knot official affiliate thread - Affordable Luxury neckties

[Dark Knot]

Mixing Shirt and Tie Patterns with 7 examples. All feedback is appreciated!

http://www.thedarkknot.com/pages/mixing-shirt-and-tie-patterns-with-7-examples

 

[Claghorn]

My .02

The majority of those shirts (with the exception of the blue and the pink) really aren't meant to be worn with ties. A shirt functions best as a background to a tie. It is also actually further back, depth wise, so it creates a very odd effect as a bold pattern tries to push itself into the foreground. There is absolutely a place for checks with ties, but they tend to work best when muted or smaller scale, predominantly white, e.g.






Some of the solid shirts also a bit too saturated to work well. Similar logic to the above. It'll also mucks with contrast between the tie and shirt, shirt and jacket. While low contrast looks do work (though they are more difficult to pull off), it's generally in the context of all muted colors instead of all loud/bold colors.

 

[Patrick R]

Please let us know your thoughts on our most recent post regarding matching of our ties to various shirts!

If you posted photos in the WAYWRN thread of someone wearing those combinations you would elicit a lot of criticism. I (and I assume others) have intentionally withheld criticism because this is your thread and it is not cool (and would look malicious) to come in and trash your postings in your own thread. I know my criticism is not terribly helpful, but hopefully you can get some more useful criticism like Claghorn's.

 

[Dark Knot]

My .02

The majority of those shirts (with the exception of the blue and the pink) really aren't meant to be worn with ties. A shirt functions best as a background to a tie. It is also actually further back, depth wise, so it creates a very odd effect as a bold pattern tries to push itself into the foreground. There is absolutely a place for checks with ties, but they tend to work best when muted or smaller scale, predominantly white, e.g.






Some of the solid shirts also a bit too saturated to work well. Similar logic to the above. It'll also mucks with contrast between the tie and shirt, shirt and jacket. While low contrast looks do work (though they are more difficult to pull off), it's generally in the context of all muted colors instead of all loud/bold colors.

Thank you for your feedback Claghorn. I understand where you are coming from, and respect that for a large percentage of members on Style Forum, a graded approach to color and pattern boldness works best, where you start with a simple, muted shirt design and work your way up with each successive layer both in terms of color and pattern boldness.

I will definitely take this into account for some of our future designs and recommendations. I would like to mention however that there are many reputable (albeit commercial) fashion sources out there such as GQ and FashionBeans that do advocate (through their images) bold ties against bold patterns. While this may not sit well with more subtly dressed gentleman such as yourself, I do respectfully believe that there is a market out there, and would hope with the large number of style forum members, a corresponding level of diversity would appreciate the aesthetic that I had alluded to in prior posts.

Thank you for your feedback. I will definitely look into bringing on ties with a more subtle look for members of this forum, as I do appreciate that men here do dress very elegantly, even though tastes may be more understated and subtle. I appreciate your honest feedback as I had asked for it!

Thank you once again.


Regards,



Rishi Chullani

 

[Dark Knot]

If you posted photos in the WAYWRN thread of someone wearing those combinations you would elicit a lot of criticism. I (and I assume others) have intentionally withheld criticism because this is your thread and it is not cool (and would look malicious) to come in and trash your postings in your own thread. I know my criticism is not terribly helpful, but hopefully you can get some more useful criticism like Claghorn's.

Thank you for your constructive criticism Patrick. I appreciate the manner in which you have addressed this issue. Thank you for this.



Regards,



Rishi Chullani

 

[Claghorn]

I'm not sure anyone heavily involved in the aesthetics of style regards GQ as reputable anymore. Marketable, yes. Influential to consumers? Sadly, yes.

So catering to that look probably isn't a bad business decision, especially for your cheaper ties.

And while I realize that a great deal of aesthetics is subjective, fit is not. And GQ regularly has its models in jackets too small to button (leading to such now standard poses as the "picture snapped in the middle of buttoning my jacket" and "don't mind me I'm just going to hunch over awkwardly"). So I think it's difficult to argue that GQ possesses any credibility in regards to taste.

Though it might be important to ask yourself who the majority if tie wearers are. Now, they most definitely aren't SF types (oh, but if they were, what a fun world that would be). But they also aren't the sort of people buying loud gingham to pair with a 2-inch tie (the GQ look). Generally, they're the JAB or the BB crowd. No pocket squares, hand-rolled ties, and bespoke suits...but muted, plain shirts.

 

[Patrick R]

I would like to mention however that there are many reputable (albeit commercial) fashion sources out there such as GQ and FashionBeans that do advocate (through their images) bold ties against bold patterns.

Absolutely. But you won't find love for that aesthetic here. There is nothing wrong with pursuing that target market, but this forum is not that crowd. Which again is not a criticism of your attempt to engage the forum. It merely explains the lack of responses and interactions.

 

[Academic2]

Quite independently of the question of design and your audience (and I agree with the observations offered by others on those topics and have nothing to add to them), you might want to consider the images you are sending out through Instagram, how these compare with images from your competitors, and the messages these images are sending.

Here’s one of yours:






That’s a very poor knot, and it’s not even cinched tight. If I were a potential customer I’d be wondering whether there’s a problem with the tie that’s preventing it from forming a proper knot.

Here’s one from TM Lewin, one of your competitors:



The knot is correctly tightened, cinched up and dimpled, and the camera angle (perpendicular to the plane of the shirt) and photo quality are of professional quality.

Images sell more menswear than words, and manufacturers need to take them seriously.

I hope this helps. Affiliates are important, and it's in everyone's interest that they succeed.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[Dark Knot]

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We are offering 30% off all orders for SF members, using the following discount code at checkout: SF

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www.thedarkknot.com

 

[Dark Knot]

30% of all orders, free shipping globally

We are offering 30% off all orders for SF members, using the following discount code at checkout: SF

Free Shipping Globally included.

www.thedarkknot.com