Pocket squares

[hopkins_student]

For regular wear with a suit, not a dinner suit.

 

[Manton]

Silk, linen, wool, cashmere or cotton are all fine.  Style "guidelines" (not firm enough to be called rules) suggest that the surface of the hank should contrast with tie: "dry" linen and woolen hanks with "wet" silk ties and vice versa.

Crisp white linen is the most formal looking and goes well worsted suits and spiffy dress shirts and macclesfield ties.  Linen hanks in various colors and contrasting borders are nice for summer.  I do like silk hanks with rough and spongey cloths.  Yet I have no problem wearing a linen or cotton hank with a cashmere tie. I tend to wear my wool squares only in winter.

 

[j]

What's the question? Most people who like 'pocket squares' (

) use silk ones with their suits. I have only linen and cotton handkerchiefs, for moral reasons.

 

[Manton]

What's the question? Most people who like 'pocket squares' (

) use silk ones with their suits. I have only linen and cotton handkerchiefs, for moral reasons.

Snob.

 

[cuffthis]

I have recycled some of my older, striped English shirts as pocket squares.

I have taken an 18-20" piece of fabric from the back of the shirt, hand rolled and basted the edges, and woila, a great cotton pocket square. And a reminder of a former sartorial friend.

 

[Alexander Kabbaz]

I have recycled some of my older, striped English shirts as pocket squares. I have taken an 18-20" piece of fabric from the back of the shirt, hand rolled and basted the edges, and woila, a great cotton pocket square. And a reminder of a former sartorial friend.

Gonna have to give this some thought. Human organ donation is fine ... but something as precious as a shirt? You're skating on the edge, for sure.

 

[AlanC]

I have recycled some of my older, striped English shirts as pocket squares.

I have taken an 18-20" piece of fabric from the back of the shirt, hand rolled and basted the edges, and woila, a great cotton pocket square. And a reminder of a former sartorial friend.

I'll have to remember this if I see an interesting shirt past its prime at a thrift shop.

 

[cuffthis]

Gonna have to give this some thought. Human organ donation is fine ... but something as precious as a shirt? You're skating on the edge, for sure.

As an accountant, I find that I often wear out the sleeves and elbows of my shirts first, from them rubbing against my desk. I don't have extra fabric to repair or replace the worn out parts.

If I really like the shirt, and the fabric is nice and soft from age and proper care, to me the back of the shirt is much better recycled as a pocket square than to be simply disposed of.

And I like to skate on the edge, lol. More fun and exciting that way.

 

[gorgekko]

I have recycled some of my older, striped English shirts as pocket squares.

I have taken an 18-20" piece of fabric from the back of the shirt, hand rolled and basted the edges, and woila, a great cotton pocket square. And a reminder of a former sartorial friend.

What an utterly fabulous idea. I have a few beloved shirts about to depart for that great unknown and that would be a nice way to celebrate their legacy.

 

[Alexander Kabbaz]

You all MEAN people. You just like making an old man cry.

 

[globetrotter]

I use a white cotton handkerchief.
I carry two identical - one in my pants pocket, one in the breast pocket. once I use one, it rotates into the pocket only catagory.

 

[gorgekko]

You all MEAN people. You just like making an old man cry.

Now, now, Alex. Look at it this way: One of our Kabbaz shirts (after their incredibly long lives, of course) deserves a second life as a pocket square once its ended its useful life as shirt...a tribute to the shirt and the maker. Right beside our hearts.

 

[Keith T]

I have recycled some of my older, striped English shirts as pocket squares.

I have taken an 18-20" piece of fabric from the back of the shirt, hand rolled and basted the edges, and woila, a great cotton pocket square. And a reminder of a former sartorial friend.

What a capital idea. (Sorry, Mr. K.) I love it. Not that I would want to purposely cut short the life of a decent shirt....

And I personally use both silk and linen squares, only on occasion, and I generally follow Manton's wet/dry recommendation, though I had never heard it described as such. Sans tie, I prefer to go silk with the pocket square.

 

[Alexander Kabbaz]

Right beside our hearts.

Well ... since you put it that way.

Just give the rest of the child a decent burial. Plain wood casket is OK as is cremation. None of that Black Bag stuff. And make sure the collar is buttoned.

But if I catch anyone heaving in hefty's, watch out.

 

[gorgekko]

But if I catch anyone heaving in hefty's, watch out.

Rather off topic but I actually cut up all my old shirts. I don't know why but I've been doing it for years. I think it started with a beloved blue chambray shirt that I couldn't bear to part with even though it had holes in it...so I cut it up so that I couldn't even wear it if I wanted to.

I still miss that shirt and it's been about eight years since I sent it off to the isle of Avalon with Siegfried's Funeral Music by Wagner playing in the background.