Ideal Width of Skinny Ties

[vvoc]

what is the ideal width for a skinny tie? is 2" good or maybe even skinnier? what does everyone perfer?

 

[babygreenspots]

My skinny ties are about 2.8-3.2 inches. Does that still count as a skinny tie? I think anything narrower than that looks like a belt or rope hanging from your neck.

 

[vvoc]

wow...not really that "skinny" lol...i have a 3" tie and i dont think thats too skinny...

 

[Get Smart]

2.5" is my perfect width

any skinnier than 2" and it starts looking silly, like a bad 80s video come to life

 

[tiecollector]

I have one from TopShop that is about 1.5" from end to end. I tried wearing it with a shirt and tie by itself, but I couldn't bare to leave the house like that. It might have looked okay with a french fly (placket covers buttons, right?) but having my buttons visible at all times was just silly. I did wear the tie once under a v-neck sweater and I think it looked quite nice though.

 

[vvoc]

ya i think you have to wear atleast a blazer if its that skinny...any good options for nice/cheap ties?

 

[j]

Vintage or thrift stores. Vintage stores in particular never know the quality of ties they have.

Anyway, I think I may start making a habit of picking up any ties I find of decent quality from about 3.25" down to 2.5" or so and flipping them on the forum. There are plenty out there and it pains me to see you guys considering a $100+ tie ONLY because it's narrow.

 

[odoreater]

j, the tie you had on in the blazers with jeans thread is pretty sweet and a good width (narrow, but not too narrow) - especially for a casual outfit. It was definitely too narrow for work (I don't like to go narrower than 3" for a work tie), but awesome for the look you had going on. what was the width of that thing?

 

[mack11211]

I will have a group of 5 to 15 Paul Stuart ties on ebay next week....or maybe I'll do a pre-sale on the board. All are mint cond but from the 80s, and therefore narrower. Trad stripes and patterns.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by odoreater

j, the tie you had on in the blazers with jeans thread is pretty sweet and a good width (narrow, but not too narrow) - especially for a casual outfit. It was definitely too narrow for work (I don't like to go narrower than 3" for a work tie), but awesome for the look you had going on. what was the width of that thing?
That one's 2", but knits are almost always narrower and I think they look awful in wider widths. I probably wouldn't do a 2" in a regular silk tie.

 

[macuser3of5]

The thinnest tie I own is 2.25" and the widest I own is 3". IMO 2.5" is the perfect width.

 

[FIHTies]

Isnt there a difference between the Narrow ties that some people prefer and the Skinny ties that showed themselves in the fashion areas in Italy this year?

I mean technically these are two different animals arent they?

 

[lowrey]

my N(N) tie is about 2.25", to me thats the perfect width, its skinny but doesn't look like a rope. looks like this

 

[j]

Originally Posted by FIHTies

Isnt there a difference between the Narrow ties that some people prefer and the Skinny ties that showed themselves in the fashion areas in Italy this year?

I mean technically these are two different animals arent they?
Do you have a pic of these Italian ones?

Personally I think there can't be an 'ideal' width, which is why I think it's strange that so many people wear whatever width is 'in' at the moment. Just as they need narrower lapels, narrower people need narrower ties to look proportional. I don't think any 38 or 40R looks very good in a 4" wide tie, personally. It just takes up too much shirt space.

But assuming I were wearing jackets and suits all the time, I'd probably stick around the 2.5-2.75" mark for casual wear and 3"-3-1/4" for more formal/serious occasions.

 

[mack11211]

I think there are two issues here, one classical and one contemporary.

The classical one, as noted above, is the rule of proportion: not only of tie to collar point and lapel width, but to your own body size and shape.

The contemporary one is that one must wear business-inspired clothing in a way that does not suggest one is going off to do business in a conservative business setting, yet you are somehow wearing jeans. Coats and blazers now have distinctly different materials, details and silhouettes than suit coats or even classical sport coats. Ties, similarly, may have different colors or patterns, materials, or even shapes. The NYT style section caught up to some of them today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/fa...ml?ref=fashion

In general, these are narrower than the ties worn with the new narrow suits. The ties for suits may be between 3 and 3.5, while the casual ties are often narrower still.