What Exactly Constitutes a Conservative Tie?

[Sixth_Sense]

Hey All,

After lurking for a period of time, I decided to take the plunge and register.

Everyone appears to be well informed, so I am hoping to receive some great feedback.

I will be a summer analyst at a bulge bracket investment bank this summer, and I was curious as to what exactly are conservative ties? I tried using the search function, but it did not help much.


Anyway, I tend to stay away from elaborate designs and focus on a solids or single patterns, so I am not too concerned about that, believing I have good judgment regarding that aspect.

However, I struggle as to what colors are appropriate; given this, what colors should I embrace and avoid?

Are there any colors other than blue and red that are acceptable? Orange perhaps? Dark Yellow?

I would find it strange if this were not the case, given the popularity of ties such as Hermes, which can be rather colorful and in my opinion use unusual patterns (animals, toys, etc.) for what I would consider a conservative work place environment.

Thank you, and I look forward to your advice.

 

[John Ellis]

Originally Posted by Sixth_Sense

Hey All,

After lurking for a period of time, I decided to take the plunge and register.

Everyone appears to be well informed, so I am hoping to receive some great feedback.

I will be a summer analyst at a bulge bracket investment bank this summer, and I was curious as to what exactly are conservative ties? I tried using the search function, but it did not help much.


Anyway, I tend to stay away from elaborate designs and focus on a solids or single patterns, so I am not too concerned about that, believing I have good judgment regarding that aspect.

However, I struggle as to what colors are appropriate; given this, what colors should I embrace and avoid?

Are there any colors other than blue and red that are acceptable? Orange perhaps? Dark Yellow?

I would find it strange if this were not the case, given the popularity of ties such as Hermes, which can be rather colorful and in my opinion use unusual patterns (animals, toys, etc.) for what I would consider a conservative work place environment.

Thank you, and I look forward to your advice.

Actually there are no real rules. Orange ties can be very conservative in certain patterns and contexts. There's a faction here that disdain Hermes ties, I've no idea why, for they seem to me a safe, attractive and stylish choice for those unitiated into tie law. They are infinitely preferable to what Tom Wolffe calls the exploding pizza ties that are so popular in much of America. If you are a beginner and want to play safe you should stick with the old faithfuls which are in any case the foundations of any tie collection and you will probably have them in thirty years time long after the more fashionable items have been discarded. And the old faithfuls are: Solids but try to go for some interesting fabrics like grenadines and knits, Polka dots of varying sizes, hound's tooths, birdseyes, diagonal striped reps and some of those cotton and silk summer diagonals so beloved of the Italians. Finally a word about width. Avoid extremes. Narrow ties seem to be undergoing something of a revival with narrower lapel suits. Try and stay in the middle, nothing dates a tie so much as width and these narrows are going to look very dated in a few years. Other than knitted ties you want a width at max of 3.25 to 3.5 inches. I'd also aim for a bit of bulk in the tie. It gives a larger and and more sculptural knot.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

A conservative tie is just one that is not very attention-grabbing, the opposite of an obnoxiously loud tie. It has to do with the overall design and the colour combinations as well as the pattern.

While some Hermès designs are conservative, I would say that most that I've seen are not but they are very popular in certain areas of business nonetheless.

Classic patterns like stripes, dots or small geometric patterns in subdued colours are generally conservative. Solid grenadines as well.

As for width, while you can get away with some variation, 3.5" is pretty much the current standard.

For investment banking, I would recommend avoiding most plaids and paisleys, skinny ties and knit ties.

Just ask yourself if you would wear it to a job interview. If the answer is yes, it's a conservative tie.

 

[Sator]

Conservative ties are dark coloured in a tone matching or complementary to your coat and shirt. Stripes are rarely conservative. Yellow is not that conservative, and nor really is red. Burdandy is more conservative, but again no ruddy shade is ever that conservative. Stripes are usually not conservative. The bare minimum in pattern is conservative. A plain tie is conservative.

Forget about brown, green, olive, lavender, or orange. Hermes ties are never conservative.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

I was under the impression that a repp tie was conservative. Example:

Would you say otherwise because they are traditionally school or regimental ties? Please enlighten me.

 

[John Ellis]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLaw

I was under the impression that a repp tie was conservative. Example:

Would you say otherwise because they are traditionally school or regimental ties? Please enlighten me.

Rep ties are generally conservative and I have many such but I also have some very jazzy numbers like a fuschia ground with yellow stripe. Rep bowties also tend ot be a bit jazzy.

 

[Dewey]

Conservative means a lot of different things. This is why the answers will vary. I guess the OP means conservative here in the sense of what will not stick out. In a lot of jobs, it can be very wise to not draw attention to yourself on the basis of clothes alone, and this requires a good sense of the standards in that workplace. It might easier to dispense with the word and its varying contexts and focus on the job, "a summer analyst at a bulge bracket investment bank." In America, stripes would be regarded as a safe choice for banking and most other "conservative" professions. Here is a canon of them. Note that these ties are only going to come across as low-key and safe if they are paired with a solid (light blue or white) dress shirt and a navy blazer. If you put a stripe tie on a candy stripe shirt under a glen plaid jacket, you have the more daring or casual edge of something like the Ben Silver catalog. This might not be seen as "conservative" unless you are in a Charleston office, or at the race track, or at a garden party. Solid ties are always safe, but they require a patterned shirt or a patterned jacket I think. In the end, the choice of appropriate ties that are safe and well within the norms will depend on your shirt and suit/jacket wardrobe, right, and will also vary from workplace to workplace, region to region, etc. And most any tie in subdued colors will look conservative enough if you stick to the rule of one pattern (of shirt / jacket / tie) and three tones (dark / medium / light, e.g., navy blazer / blue and cream stripe tie / white shirt, or, solid dark navy tie / light blue candy stripe shirt / light gray suit).

 

[bigbris1]

Conservative tie=tie that doesn't spark conversation, comments or compliments. You're just wearing a tie.

 

[Joseph K. Bank]

Generally I feel that a conservative tie should only have two colors, if it has a third the color should be a similar shade to one of the other two, preferable acting as a intermediary. For me it's also important that the silk or silk blend has a matte finish and shows minimum texture.

 

[Teacher]

Where's Manton?

 

[LanceN]

A good, political, and economic conservative tie would have a collage of the following traffic signs on it: KEEP RIGHT, NO LEFT TURN, RIGHT LANE KEEP MOVING, LEFT
LANE ENDS, RIGHT TURN ONLY, with a RED background! Of course! Thanks!

Plus any others you might can think of! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Like "LEFT LANE MUST YIELD"

Thanks!!

Looking forward to these ties appearing.

 

[Makoto Chan]

A guy registered to make this joke?

 

[edmorel]



A guy registered to make this joke?

thats the state of the forum, even the quality of the trolls/jokesters has fallen off a cliff

 

[FlyingMonkey]

thats the state of the forum, even the quality of the trolls/jokesters has fallen off a cliff

There's certainly a lot of poor quality new members who seem to be either without a clue and unwilling to learn or just useless even at trolling - someone attributed this to reddit.

 

[comrade]

A counter opinion: I am by nature a pessimistic cynic, but it could be that
these "poor quality " new members, who clearly have never been introduced
to bespoke tailors by their friends and/or colleagues, are actually beginning
a long journey. Some might actually achieve the level of taste that we applaud in
Mafoofan, Vox, Manton, Parker, Will, Whnay etc.