Tie colour darker than shirt?

[FidelCashflow]

Is it possible to wear a brighter tie with a darker shirt without looking goofy or mafioso? I've always had an aversion to it, and now that i look at my closet, I have mostly shades of darker blue ties and lighter blue shirts. I see attractive brighter coloured ties in store, but I can't bring myself to wear a shirt that is darker than my tie for some reason.

 

[EL72]

Don't do it. There are very, very, very, very.... few cases where it looks good so it's better to stick to dark ties + light shirts.

 

[Prince of Paisley]

Maybe a plain, light silver skinny tie on a charcoal shirt..?

but nothing involving bright yellow, flouro pink on dark pink, teal blue etc. etc. Then you'll look like a Benny Hill character - you know - the ones that wear ties made of the same material as their shirts!

 

[FidelCashflow]

Originally Posted by EL72

Don't do it. There are very, very, very, very.... few cases where it looks good so it's better to stick to dark ties + light shirts.

Does this mean the only appropriate back-drop for a brightly coloured tie is a white shirt? When I see a nice looking silver, red, green, or orange tie I can only visualize it with a white shirt. I can't even fathom mixing colour families and wearing it with a light blue shirt.

 

[Johnathan]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

Does this mean the only appropriate back-drop for a brightly coloured tie is a white shirt? When I see a nice looking silver, red, green, or orange tie I can only visualize it with a white shirt. I can't even fathom mixing colour families and wearing it with a light blue shirt.
I could see a red tie looking nice with a light blue shirt and navy suit, but I might be crazy.

 

[babygreenspots]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

Does this mean the only appropriate back-drop for a brightly coloured tie is a white shirt? When I see a nice looking silver, red, green, or orange tie I can only visualize it with a white shirt. I can't even fathom mixing colour families and wearing it with a light blue shirt.

Most of these seem okay with light blue to me.

 

[CharlesAlexander]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

Is it possible to wear a brighter tie with a darker shirt without looking goofy or mafioso? I've always had an aversion to it, and now that i look at my closet, I have mostly shades of darker blue ties and lighter blue shirts. I see attractive brighter coloured ties in store, but I can't bring myself to wear a shirt that is darker than my tie for some reason.

 

[holymadness]

You can wear yellow over light blue under a navy suit, but that's the only example I can think of. In that case, it seems that the colours are more or less equivalent in tone, rather than one being darker than the other. I suppose a pastel green tie overtop of a pink shirt would qualify, too.

 

[idfnl]

Originally Posted by Prince of Paisley

Maybe a plain, light silver skinny tie on a charcoal shirt..?

but nothing involving bright yellow, flouro pink on dark pink, teal blue etc. etc. Then you'll look like a Benny Hill character - you know - the ones that wear ties made of the same material as their shirts!

+1

Often a bright or pastel colored tie is well matched with a darker shirt.

 

[CharlesAlexander]

Originally Posted by holymadness

You can wear yellow over light blue under a navy suit, but that's the only example I can think of. In that case, it seems that the colours are more or less equivalent in tone, rather than one being darker than the other. I suppose a pastel green tie overtop of a pink shirt would qualify, too.


I actually do this look quite often myself.

 

[idfnl]

Originally Posted by CharlesAlexander

I actually do this look quite often myself.

Nice PS

 

[koolhistorian]

IMHO the shirt should be in a nuance lighter than the tie, but not, always, from the same color of the tie. Easiest way to combine is working around primary colors - blue, red, yellow, and black/white.

 

[CharlesAlexander]

Originally Posted by idfnl

Nice PS

Thanks! It's a Holiday and Brown PS I got from Barneys sale last year. Retail was $90, I got it for $10.

 

[bowtielover]

As long as tie tie is not too bright like a neon color or something. You always want a lighter color tie with a darker suit to brighten up the look a little otherwise you just look drab.

 

[globetrotter]

I don't do it. I keep all my ties dark