A lot of guys do not know many fashion rules, but the rule most guys know like the back of their hands is that you never wear a striped tie over a striped shirt. This is the golden rule of fashion. Or is it?

Back in 2005 when I secured my first employment, my over-joyed Aunt decided to gift me a packing shirt from the UK. Inside the pack was a well- tailored, striped, pink shirt with a complimentary striped deep brown tie. It was designed by NEXT.

As a young buzzing employee, I wore the shirt with so much gusto and I can’t begin to describe the kind of confidence I feel putting on the shirt with the tie. I always get butterflies anytime any of my colleagues or superior passes by me and gives me compliment. Because of this, a combination of striped shirt with striped tie became my signature mode of dressing.

Two years later when I changed jobs, to make a very good first impression, I wore my favourite NEXT striped shirt with the striped tie and on getting to the office, I got a real shocker -everybody was staring at me with a wry smile on his face, evidently I have committed an atrocious fashion faux pas, the kind every rookie will inevitably commit.

To save me from the obvious embarrassment, my manager called me to her office and gave me the golden rule-Never wear a striped tie on a striped shirt!
What? I felt like the ground beneath me should open up and swallow me right away. So I have been doing the wrong thing for that long.

As I purist that I am, I decided to chew on the rule on getting home still feeling embarrassed for making an elementary fashion mistake, then I asked myself “if you can’t wear striped tie on a striped Shirt, why will NEXT combine the two in a pack?” Common, this is next, not one obscure designer. They certainly know better.

So I decided to do a little digging and was relieved when I discovered that such rule does not exist.

Let me share my discovery with you in the next post.

1 Keep the scales different
The number one rule when it comes to matching stripes is that the stripes of your shirt and stripes of your tie should be different sizes: thick stripes go with thin stripes. What happens if you wear stripes of the same thickness? You will probably look like an optical illusion.

Already wearing a tie with wide stripes? Then choose very thin stripes for your shirt. Matching wide stripes with wide stripes can make you look “heavy”, while thin stripes with thin stripes can be messy if not done carefully.
Wide and thin stripes can be a killer look!


2 Keep the stripes in opposite direction

Ideally you would want to mix diagonal stripes on your tie with vertical lines on your shirt. The same rule applies to all garments in your ensemble: suit, jackets, pocket square, etc. The key takeaway is not to repeat the pattern more than once

3 Go for complimentary rather than matching colour

The colors of your shirt and tie should be complimentary or coordinating. For example, blue goes with yellow, but you can also match different shades of the same color: light blue shirt with navy blue tie.

Basically, the rule to remember is: you can mix patterns if they are different in size, and you can and mix stripes as long as they are not the same thickness.


Following these simple guidelines will help you put better outfits together!


Matching striped or checked shirts with checked or striped ties is an adventure and every man should embark on it!

Reference

http://attireclub.org/2013/01/07/mens-fashion-rule-how-to-match-striped-shirts-with-striped-ties/

http://mydapperself.com/3-basic-rules-to-mix-stripes-when-wearing-a-suit/

Stripe shirt on stripe trousers nko?

ayourbamie:
Stripe shirt on stripe trousers nko?

Yes. Perfectly acceptable