conservative business dress WAYWRN: An Experiment

^ [Mr. Holliday's post] A patterned whitish, or better yet, off-whitish, silk square would seal the deal for me.

I am wavering as to whether MoK is a Summer or Winter, although I am leaning towards the former.

- M

Doc, I think you are right.

I would add this. I also like pattern contrast with squares. Dot tie + dot square = not good. As a general matter, I like my squares to have larger patterns than I would ever wear on a tie. I like the way that, depending on what part of the square you show, you can get a different color/pattern effect. Also, the large pattern on a square is paradoxically less noticable than a small one. With small one, you can clearly see the pattern: its very smallness makes all the elements distinct even when only a bit is showing. With a large pattern, you really can't tell what it is. You only see some colors and texture. It blends into the whole much easier.

Many silks that I think would make atrocious ties I think make very good squares, and vice versa.

I think ed is right but wrong. Yes, many of the squares here are not good. But there is virtually no ensemble that does not benefit from white linen, square fold.

Originally Posted by Manton

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personal rule.

You might have mentioned this before, but do you get your BDs with a slight roll in them?

- M

Originally Posted by edmorel

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Most people's looks would improve 10 fold if they wore better shirt collars and ditched their squares. These are two areas were most of the pics posted on this forum fail. People don't realize how important a shirt collar is to a suit, not just to the shirt. And most squares here are too gaudy.

+1.

Originally Posted by mmkn

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You might have mentioned this before, but do you get your BDs with a slight roll in them?

- M

I ask for a traditional roll. I've been unhappy with Geneva's, a little, but the problem was solved by moving the buttons. CEGOs are fine with me even if purists think they have too little roll. All my recent BDs are CEGO.

Originally Posted by JayJay

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Lufty, I'm looking forward to seeing the tv clip. Good work!

I probably came across as a bumbling fool - but exposure is exposure, right?

Originally Posted by luftvier

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I probably came across as a bumbling fool - but exposure is exposure, right?

Save the red socks for Christmas parties, but the rest of you looked good.

Originally Posted by Manton

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Doc, I think you are right.

I would add this. I also like pattern contrast with squares. Dot tie + dot square = not good. As a general matter, I like my squares to have larger patterns than I would ever wear on a tie. I like the way that, depending on what part of the square you show, you can get a different color/pattern effect. Also, the large pattern on a square is paradoxically less noticable than a small one. With small one, you can clearly see the pattern: its very smallness makes all the elements distinct even when only a bit is showing. With a large pattern, you really can't tell what it is. You only see some colors and texture. It blends into the whole much easier.

Many silks that I think would make atrocious ties I think make very good squares, and vice versa.

I think ed is right but wrong. Yes, many of the squares here are not good. But there is virtually no ensemble that does not benefit from white linen, square fold.

I agree with all this, though I have some small patterned squares I like. To me, small patterns (and squares in general) work better when there are a variety of colors and shapes. I almost never wear my squares that have single-color dots on a single-color ground. Multicolor patterns have an easier charm for me -- I just stuff them in and go. My favorites are large pictorials that look different with every fold.

One reason I like white linen so much is that it's the ultimate unobtrusive square.

This brings me to one of my half-baked theories: Most guys dress while looking at the components close up, when they'd do better to step back several feet.

Agree with Ed on the shirt collars, but think it's possible to go too far with those as well.

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

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One reason I like white linen so much is that it's the ultimate unobtrusive square.

This brings me to one of my half-baked theories: Most guys dress while looking at the components close up, when they'd do better to step back several feet.

Agree with Ed on the shirt collars, but think it's possible to go too far with those as well.

I have a few colored squares. However, after trying to work them in...I have pretty much reverted to the white linen TV Fold for 95% of the time.

Mike

Just another day. My spin on conservative business dress, though I think Manton will deduct conservative business dress points for the tie as too gaudy (John Comfort madder-ish), and the PS is a little wild in the detail shot. Also, my left shirtsleeve is showing too much in the photo, though this is a result of running into place for the timer more than anything else.

Tie is a bit haremish but OK. Square is not great.

Explain to me why you like this tie.