Fashion help with Dress Shirt and Tie

[JayT]

First off, I must start off by saying that a good friend of mine referred me to SF.com. I am going to be attending a wedding in a few weeks and am looking to have some fashion sense in choosing my dress shirt and tie. Any help you guys can provide me will be much appreciated!!

I have a dark charcoal pinstripe suit and am looking to match either a pink or light/lime green tie to a white dress shirt.

Ties
Is it okay to pair a striped tie, with a pinstripe suit? I have also noticed that there are quite a few "skinnier" looking ties out these days, that do not flare out as much as the traditional ties that I have worn before, what is the right occasion to wear one?

Dress Shirt
I am looking to purchase a slim fitting white dress shirt in the ~$100 to $150 range, it seems as if there are quite a few recommendations for Nordstrom Black Label, how about Brooks Brothers? Is there a certain collar type that I should be looking for? Is the collar style dictated by the type of tie knot?

Thank so much, you guys rock

 

[benchan]

Is it okay to pair a striped tie, with a pinstripe suit? I

Sure, provided the stripe is muted on the suit, or the stripe is wider on the tie.

As for skinny tie, how does your suit look? Besides the shirt collar issue, you better not pair some traditional/boxy suit with a skinny tie.

 

[j]

Welcome to the forum.

As Ben said, a striped tie is usually fine with a striped suit as long as the scale of the stripes (spacing, width) is somewhat different from that of the suit. It would be pretty hard to mess this up, actually.

Generally, the collar shape is determined by your face/neck shape - long neck, tall collar, short neck short collar, wide face pointier collar, thinner face spread collar, etc. Here's a good guide: http://www.tomjamesco.com/collars.asp

The tie knot is then determined by the collar shape. With a bigger spread you can use a bigger knot if you want, whereas with a smaller spread a big knot looks crowded. A lot of people prefer a small knot in a spread collar as well. With a narrower tie, a smaller knot looks more proportionate IMO.

I have not heard of Nordstrom Black Label, but there is a lot of discussion on here about slim fit shirts - do a search. And keep in mind that a decent alterations tailor can take in the body and sleeves of a somewhat blousy shirt (to a point) for around $15-20 usually. The most important thing when choosing a shirt is the fit of the collar and shoulders, and that the sleeves are long enough. Most of the other stuff can be altered to some degree.

 

[trogdor]

Originally Posted by JayT

I am looking to purchase a slim fitting white dress shirt [...] how about Brooks Brothers?

Welcome to StyleForum, JayT.

I wouldn't recommend Brooks Brothers for a slim-fitting shirt. I have one from their "slim fit" line, and it's still pretty blousy. I think the consensus on here is that Brooks Brothers shirts are generally quite generous in that way.

You might look at some English or other European manufacturers for a slimmer fit. I personally like the "slim fit" line from Hawes & Curtis -- they're not up there with Kiton and Borelli in terms of quality, but they're pretty sharp looking, genuinely slim fitting, and pretty cheap (well below your specified price range). I think you can buy them on the internets, if you're not near London.

 

[Jared]

Welcome to the forum! You may find this post about ties relevant: http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=34605 Did you have any interesting in being told why your suit is technically inappropriate?

 

[JayT]

Thanks for such helpful and rapid responses. You guys are awesome!!!

Originally Posted by benchan

Sure, provided the stripe is muted on the suit, or the stripe is wider on the tie. As for skinny tie, how does your suit look? Besides the shirt collar issue, you better not pair some traditional/boxy suit with a skinny tie.
I feel alot better with going with a striped tie now, I was thinking it could work, but now I have some good guidelines. j, Thanks for the link. I think I'm going to go with a traditional collar, what do you guys think? I believe that is what I am wearing in the picture... I attached a picture to give you guys an idea of the color, style, and fit of my suit so that you guys have a better idea of what we are working with here

http://picasaweb.google.com/jaredteo...41197651551042 http://picasaweb.google.com/jaredteo...41197651551058

 

[Jared]

Originally Posted by JayT

I attached a picture to give you guys an idea of the color, style, and fit of my suit so that you guys have a better idea of what we are working with here

http://picasaweb.google.com/jaredteo...41197651551042 http://picasaweb.google.com/jaredteo...41197651551058

DO NOT WANT: the bottom button is done up! If I blot out that part of the pic, I think it looks like a sack, possibly a size too large?

 

[trogdor]

^ However, the amount of cuff showing in the second picture is spot-on.

 

[JayT]

Originally Posted by benchan

As for skinny tie, how does your suit look? Besides the shirt collar issue, you better not pair some traditional/boxy suit with a skinny tie.

How do you guys think a skinnier tie will go with this suit?

 

[VMan]

What is your shirt size?

 

[JayT]

Originally Posted by VMan

What is your shirt size?

16-36

 

[JayT]

BTW....

How do you guys think a dark brown shoe would go with my suit color? or shoud I just stick with the traditional black? Thanks.

Jared

 

[j]

For a wedding that will go into the night, black shoes are more appropriate. But in general, you could wear dark brown shoes with the suit for less than totally serious events.