• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

A Grown Man’s Guide to Living Well

The Distilled Man

Actionable Advice for the Everyday Gentleman

SubscribeShow Subscription Opt-In
Hide Offscreen Opt-In Content
Hide Offscreen Search Content
  • Start Here
  • Social Savvy
  • Motivation
  • Style & Grooming
  • Career
  • Gentlemanly Skills
  • More
    • Relationships
    • Food & Drink
    • Living Well
    • Manly Know-How
    • Videos
    • Podcasts

How to Match Ties to Suits and Shirts

September 9, 2015 | By Rishi Chullani | May contain affiliate links (What's this?)


Share
Tweet
Pin

Match ties to suits and shirts

Matching ties to suits and shirts has confounded even the best of us over the years. While women were growing up talking about guys and fashion, we were playing sports, watching sports and hanging out with the guys.

No wonder we didn’t develop a keen sense of style and understanding of how bringing together various elements can make a clothing ensemble look harmonious and complete. And matching ties to suits and shirts?  We’ve barely just started getting comfortable with tying our neckties, let alone matching them to our suits and shirts.

There is the whole issue of color, and then there is that of pattern. How on earth are we supposed to bring these varied elements together to create a harmonized suit, shirt and tie ensemble? 

The answer is to break it down into three categories:

  1. Color
  2. Pattern
  3. Tonal Considerations

Bring all of these elements together, and you will be well on your way towards maximizing your dapper potential.


PrintThis post was made possible by SteinerSports.com, which is continuously updated with new and exciting products from the world of sports.


Color

color-wheelThe first variable to consider when matching ties to your suits and shirts is color. A great place to start our discovery of color is a color wheel. A color wheel serves as a tool for choosing colors that form a harmonious scheme. Harmony with respect to color, just as with anything else, is achieved when there is a sense of order and balance. In the case of color, this is often accomplished through choosing a mix of warm and cool colors.

As we can see with the color wheel here, it is broadly divided into two broad-based camps: cool and warm colors. Cool colors are associated with calm, such as blue, green and purple. Warm colors exhibit vibrance, such as red, orange and yellow.

When looking at different color schemes, we will start with the most subdued color schemes and work towards bolder color schemes.

Monochromatic color schemes: A monochromatic color scheme achieves balance through matching shades (darker variants) and tints (lighter variants) of the same color. With the color wheel above, shades and tints of blue include navy blue and light blue. Hence, an often popular look that is achieved with using just a “cool” color scheme involves a light blue shirt paired with a navy tie, with a charcoal grey suit. While I would advise against using a monochromatic scheme with warmer colors, such as a red tie against a pink shirt (generally considered very bold!), a monochromatic scheme using cool colors provides a muted, elegant look without the need for balance with warmer colors, such as later color schemes discussed.

navy blue tie gray coat
A Navy Blue Tie sits perfectly against a lighter blue shirt. Image source

Similar color schemes: A similar color scheme is a great way to up your dapper game without introducing both warm and cool colors. Similar color schemes include analogous colors that are close to each other on the color wheel. An example of this is to pair a navy blue tie (shade of blue) with a lighter green shirt. Pairing a solid tie with a small, subtle checkered shirt with a similar color scheme creates both color and pattern contrast.

light blue shirt with knit tie
A light blue shirt with a green knitted tie creates a visually stunning, similar color scheme that is easy on the eyes, yet very detailed and extremely elegant. Image source

Triadic Color Scheme: This is where things get interesting. A triadic color scheme involves choosing colors that form a triangle, e.g., blue/red/yellow, and purple/green/orange. While both of these color schemes involve warm and cool colors, the contrast is not as strong as with a complementary color scheme. This slightly muted but highly attractive color scheme is a great way to introduce color into your wardrobe. For many gentlemen, triadic color schemes are not something that they have experimented with in the past. A well balanced triadic color scheme involves wearing a red tie against a blue shirt (a mustard yellow tie works as well).

striped shirt knit tie
A triadic color scheme many of us are familiar with. A red tie sits perfectly against a lighter blue striped shirt. This contrast of warm and cool colors has come together to create a harmonious look. Image source

The Dark Knot Tip: Have one of these triadic colors be the dominant color of your tie, and have the color of your shirt as a background color in your tie. An example of this is the tie and shirt combination below, with a blue shirt and red and navy (shade of blue) tie. Picture this with a solid charcoal grey suit—sounds perfect to me!

gray coat knit tie
Image source

Complementary Color Schemes: These are the boldest of the color schemes, pairing the most strikingly contrasting colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel. As a point of reference, blue’s direct contrasting color is orange, red’s complementary color is green and yellow’s complementary color is purple. Hence, complementary colors form the strongest contrast. It is best to understand this through the basic concept of warm and cool colors that form the basis of the color wheel (as discussed earlier). Because we are pairing warm and cool colors that offer the strongest visual contrast, these colors also provide the most pop. While red and green should be reserved for Christmas, and yellow and purple are worn by only the very bold, combining a blue shirt with an orange tie is a perfect way to step right into bold territory. Add in some textural variation (will discuss more below) as with the example below, and you will have upped your dapper game exponentially.

The Dark Knot Tip: When first starting out with matching ties to your suits and shirts, it is best to work with the color schemes below and to gradually work your way up to a complementary color scheme. Matching complementary colors offers a bold look and may not be something you would want to try at the outset. For those of you more experienced in dabbling with color and pattern mixing and matching, a complementary color scheme is a great way to take your level of dapperness up a notch.

Chris pine
Image source

Necktie Patterns

As with color matching, you should use tie patterns that create the most contrast with your shirts and suits. As a general rule, when you are starting out, avoid mixing and matching three different patterns. If done incorrectly, this can create a jarring effect.

When matching tie patterns to your suits and shirts, you want to keep two considerations in mind:

Type of Pattern – Improving your aesthetic with different patterns will certainly create intrigue. While stripes can work against a checkered shirt, mixing up patterns completely such as a paisley or polka dot tie against a striped or checkered shirt can help break up the lines on your shirts or suits (if your suits are striped or checkered) and create a completely different look. As mentioned above, paisley and polka dot ties can work perfectly.

paisley tie checkered shirt
A paisley tie with a larger design pairs perfectly against a smaller checkered shirt design. Image source

Pattern Proportion – The more important of the two elements, pattern proportion is absolutely critical when matching tie patterns to your suits and shirts. While patterns can be similar, e.g., a striped tie against a striped shirt, it is absolutely imperative that pattern proportion differs, e.g., a wider striped tie against a striped shirt.

blue tie blue striped shirt
A wider striped tie contrasts perfectly with a finer striped shirt. Image source

With the above having been established, what are some of the different ways we can encompass pattern variation?  For gentlemen just starting to introduce pattern variety into your wardrobe, your best option would be to start with one of the following:

One Pattern and Two Solids. A solid shirt with a tie with an appropriate color combination (monochromatic, similar, triadic or complementary color schemes) and a solid charcoal grey or navy blue suit will ensure that you look both elegant and dapper.

Two Patterns and One Solid. For those of you that are starting to engage with pattern matching, two patterns and one solid are a great place to start. To make things interesting, I would stick to using the two patterns with the shirt and tie, and ideally keep the suit solid. Because a shirt’s pattern generally has more detail than that of a suit, with more vibrant color and pattern schemes, matching the right tie to your shirt will really allow your combination to pop.

paisley patterned tie
Image source

Once you have experimented with the above, why not try three different patterns in the various degrees below?

Similar Patterns

If you are a newly initiated into Sartorial Land, similar patterns can help alleviate some of that confusion. Similar patterns provide both congruency and an element of contrast at the same time. Narrow striped shirts are well complemented by wider striped ties. Similarly (pun intended), a window pane suit as in the picture below can be well complemented by a plaid tie and a small checkered shirt.

The Dark Knot Tip: Well, less of a tip and more of a necessity here – as mentioned above, if matching patterns, please ensure that pattern proportion is varied. The importance of this is compounded when wearing similar patterns. So in the example below, we can see three different proportions of checkered patterns, which is what makes the ensemble work!

good pattern bad pattern
Enough said. Image source

Two Different Patterns

Two different patterns can work fantastically (can mean two different patterns over your three-piece ensemble), provided that there is an element of contrast with regard to proportions. For example, a small animal print tie would not contrast well with a small checkered shirt (similar pattern proportions). However, a wider striped tie, on a narrow pinstriped suit and a smaller checkered shirt could produce a pronounced effect. Or as in the case below, a polka dot tie against a checkered shirt and suit.

three patterns
Image source

Bringing it All Together With Three Patterns

Mixing and matching three patterns requires a discerning eye. If pulled off correctly, it can be a head-turner. With three different patterns, you need to maintain proportions and effect so that you don’t overdo congruency and you don’t exaggerate differences.

matching ties to pattern scale
Image source

Matching Ties to Shirts Based on Pattern Scale

An alternative way to consider matching tie patterns to your suits and shirts is to look at tie pattern versus shirt pattern. While I have emphasized the importance of pattern proportion earlier, we can take a look at a few examples of how this plays out with specific reference to shirts and ties.

Solid Colored Shirt With Patterned Tie

If your shirt is a solid color, find a tie with the same color in the background. Ideally, avoid wearing a solid tie against a solid shirt. While this look is understated yet elegant, a patterned tie will introduce variety into your suit and give it an extra element of flair. For example, if you are wearing a light pink shirt, choosing an abstract tie with the same shade of pink as the secondary color of the tie will create a dapper, harmonized look.

Smaller Scale Shirt With a Larger Patterned Tie

If your shirt pattern is small scale, you can wear a bolder patterned tie. This will contrast well with your subdued shirt pattern.

striped shirt striped tie
Image source

Larger Scale Shirt With a Smaller Patterned Tie

If your shirt pattern is larger scale, you can wear a smaller, intricate tie pattern.

Generally, it is easier to start with smaller scale patterns closer to your body and work your way up. This will help create the desired level of contrast, with your tie visually popping the strongest.

Tonal Considerations

Tonal considerations refer to how contrasting your shirts and ties are as stand-alone items of clothing. A low contrast shirt refers to a shirt that appears more subtle in appearance. These shirts are predominantly designed with one major and one minor color, with the minor color not being overtly prominent. Hence, from afar, these shirts often look like a single tone shirt. However, upon closer inspection, the subtle designs embedded within these shirts, such as faint pinstripes or herringbone stripes, can be seen more clearly.

Pairing a higher tonal tie with a lower tonal shirt will go a long way in achieving that appealing aesthetic, such as is the case below. While you can opt for a high tonal shirt with a lower tonal tie, the effect here will be much less pronounced. Similarly, a high tonal tie on a high tonal shirt can seem overbearing, while a low tonal tie on a low tonal shirt can appear extremely dull. 

high tonal tie with low tonal shirt
A high tonal tie with a low tonal shirt creates that perfect element of contrast, providing an extremely dapper, yet elegant look! Image source

Summary

Ok, so that was a ton of information to digest. Before I go into summarizing the main points of this article, if there is one takeaway from all of this, is that start with a more muted backdrop for your shirt, and work your way up with your tie and suit. So a lighter colored shirt or a smaller, more subtle patterned shirt will serve as an ideal canvas to pair a higher tonal, larger, darker patterned tie with.

Matching ties to your suits and shirts requires closer examination of three critical components: color theory, pattern mixing and tonal considerations.

When matching colors, a color wheel is a great foundation for understanding the properties of color harmony. A color wheel is essentially divided into two major categories; warm and cooler colors. Cooler colors represent calm (blue, green and purple) while warmer colors represent vibrance (red, orange and yellow).

In terms of color schemes that create contrast, from least to most we have: Monochromatic color schemes (using tints and shades of the same color), similar color schemes (colors that are analogous on the color wheel), triadic color schemes (using colors that form a triangle in the color wheel and hence use both warm and cool colors), and complementary color schemes (use colors that are directly across each other from the color wheel, hence creating the strongest contrast).

When matching tie patterns to your suits and shirts, there are two key elements to pay attention to: pattern type and pattern proportion. Proportion is the most critical. If you are pairing two patterns, irrespective of whether they are similar or different, it is absolutely imperative that pattern proportion is different, so as to create contrast (e.g., wider striped tie against a finely striped shirt).

When first starting out with matching patterns, starting with two patterns and a solid will allow you to build a great foundation upon which you can further your understanding of pattern theory.

When choosing an appropriate necktie, you can create the most visual contrast by picking a shirt with a smaller scaled pattern and match it with a tie with a more broadly spaced pattern.

Pairing a low tonal shirt (muted, and appears as one color from a distance) with a higher tonal tie will accentuate contrast, all while helping you maintain an elegant look.

SPONSORED

Steiner Sports Memorabilia Black Friday Sale

Steiner Sports Memorabilia

Steiner Sports Memorabilia will hold a Black Friday sale with some of the best web deals around! Doorbuster sales all day long will include autographed items from all of your favorite athletes including, Chris Paul, Derek Jeter, Shaquille O’Neal, and many more! Hundreds of new deals released Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

›Learn More Now

Share
Tweet
Pin

You might also like...

21 Ways to Thrive When You Have No Motivation to Do Anything21 Ways to Thrive When You Have No Motivation to Do Anything
Effortless Thank You Notes: 5 Templates and Tools to Help Automate Your GratitudeEffortless Thank You Notes: 5 Templates and Tools to Help Automate Your Gratitude
101 Motivational Quotes on Being a Gentleman101 Motivational Quotes on Being a Gentleman

About Rishi Chullani

Rishi Chullani is a men's style enthusiast and entrepreneur.  He currently runs men's necktie line The Dark Knot, along with a men's formal wear style blog on the same portal. Exclusive discount: Get 25% off sitewide when you enter offer code DISTILLEDMAN at checkout. 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brock says

    September 10, 2015 at 8:11 am

    Very thorough stuff here. Well done, Rishi! Love the tip about pattern proportion.

    Also, am I the only one who thought Chris Pine was Kyle for a second? Then I realized that it couldn’t be… Kyle is much better looking.

    Reply
    • Kyle Ingham says

      September 10, 2015 at 12:48 pm

      Aww shucks, Brock…you’re making me blush.

      Reply
    • Rishi Chullani says

      September 13, 2015 at 9:23 pm

      Thank you Brock! Hope you have found the information helpful! It may be a bit too comprehensive, but I know the quality that Kyle strives for!

      Reply
  2. Jason Spencer says

    September 10, 2015 at 11:16 am

    I needed this advice last week. 😉

    Reply
    • Kyle Ingham says

      September 10, 2015 at 12:48 pm

      Ha! Sorry it was a little late, but glad you found it helpful!

      Reply
    • Rishi Chullani says

      September 13, 2015 at 9:29 pm

      Thank you Jason. Glad to know that you found the information helpful!

      Reply
  3. Krishna Kulkarni says

    December 9, 2016 at 6:11 pm

    Can u suggest me which tie will suite with jet dark blue shirt, and dark blue pant with light blue linen Lazer .

    Reply
    • Kyle Ingham says

      December 10, 2016 at 12:55 pm

      Hi Krishna, I would probably try a tie that provides some contrast–perhaps something with orange, yellow or red to pop against the blues.

      Reply
  4. Jesse says

    April 16, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    We’ve found there aren’t too many suit/tie combos that don’t go together. One just has to find the balance that they are comfortable with. Confidence is the best match with any outfit.

    Reply
  5. kesegofetse says

    October 28, 2018 at 1:58 am

    i bought a red suit and black shoes.i dont want a white shirt, which shirt and tie can i use to match the suit

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Most Popular

  • How to be more assertiveHow to Be More Assertive (Without Being a Jerk)
  • How to Make a Great First ImpressionHow to Make a Great First Impression
  • Table Manners 101 Basic Dining Etiquette for MenTable Manners 101: Basic Dining Etiquette
  • 101 Motivational Quotes on Being a Gentleman101 Motivational Quotes on Being a Gentleman
  • making guy friendsMaking Guy Friends as a Man: Male Friendship 101

Recent Posts

  • Career Second-Acts and Living Your Purpose | Paul Ollinger
  • How to Build a Stronger Marriage | Laura Heck
  • 2000 Books With Mani Vaya
  • Dating Essentials for Men | Dr. Robert Glover
  • How to Tame Your Anxiety | Dr. Loretta Breuning

Stay Connected

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About
  • Contact
  • Legal Stuff

Copyright © 2011-2021 · The Distilled Man, LLC