Wearing Light-Colored Ties

[unbelragazzo]

I hope Manton doesn't mind me using his fit to attempt to revive this thread:

 

[venividivicibj]

almost all of the suits being matched with are navy/blue, is it much harder to match to grey/charcoal?

 

[Mr. Six]

Necro-bump, since this might qualify. The discussion in this thread was helpful background when I put this together. If anything, it demonstrates that a light tie is much easier with a dark jacket and striped tie that's actually lighter than the tie so that the tie becomes an intermediate color.

 

[EliodA]

Interesting thread. TBH, I'm not sure I really like that outfit, Mr. Six. I think the jacket looks too dark for the tie. A lighter shade of brown would have looked better, imo.
In general, when wearing a light tie, I prefer a low contrast look with a light or medium shade jacket.

 

[Claghorn]

Agreed.

I don't have many light ties.

And maybe

 

[Mr. Six]

Interesting thread. TBH, I'm not sure I really like that outfit, Mr. Six. I think the jacket looks too dark for the tie. A lighter shade of brown would have looked better, imo.
In general, when wearing a light tie, I prefer a low contrast look with a light or medium shade jacket.

It's always interesting how people's perceptions differ. In your first photo, the value difference between your tie and jacket seem about the same to me as the difference between my tie and jacket. I think your second photo demonstrates the peril described in unbel's first post in this thread of light shirt + light tie + light jacket. I like the first combo quite a bit though.

 

[EliodA]

It's always interesting how people's perceptions differ. In your first photo, the value difference between your tie and jacket seem about the same to me as the difference between my tie and jacket. I think your second photo demonstrates the peril described in unbel's first post in this thread of light shirt + light tie + light jacket. I like the first combo quite a bit though.

Interesting indeed... The contrast in the first photo looks stronger than it is, the suit is a bit lighter IRL. But I suspect this may also be the case with your jacket? That's the famouse tobacco frsco, isn't it?
Funny how you prefer the first outfit over the second one, since I'm quite content with that one in that it's a bit harder to make it work compared to the first one. Unbel's light, low contrast fit in the OP suffers by comparison from a tie that is too light and lacks visual interest IMO. As you say, perceptions differ...

 

[lullemans72]

I just stumbled upon this thread as I was looking up information about bright ties. I would love to hear people's thoughts on the following two ties I own:

The left one is lavender with some blue detailing in it, and has a bit of a texture. The right one is light pink mixed with darker pink patterns, but no texture. I've tried wearing the lavender one with my grey suit, but I didn't feel it looked good. Probably limited to navy and blue instead. The pink one I think could look good with a grey suit, but I'd probably pair it with a blue shirt for more contrast.

 

[IChen]

Not really loving the one on the right, the pink. It's so light, almost white-ish.

 

[lullemans72]

Not really loving the one on the right, the pink. It's so light, almost white-ish.

The light parts are very light indeed, but because of the darker parts, I think the tie is more acceptable as a light tie.

 

[Anachronist]

I just stumbled upon this thread as I was looking up information about bright ties. I would love to hear people's thoughts on the following two ties I own:

The left one is lavender with some blue detailing in it, and has a bit of a texture. The right one is pink with with dark pink, but no texture. I've tried wearing the lavender one with my grey suit, but I didn't feel it looked good. Probably limited to navy and blue instead. The pink one I think could look good with a grey suit, but I'd probably pair it with a blue shirt for more contrast.

View attachment 870413

The left one is definitely easier to combine. As a very simplistic rule of thumb to start off with and which will help in many cases: apply contrast by wearing a light tie with a darker jacket (and vice versa) and then try to pick up one of the tie's colors in another garment or accessory, e.g. socks, pocket square, watch, etc. Matching with the tie's "stronger" color, often the darker tone usually works best in bringing the pattern out. For a more casual look you can pair with a darker shirt (e.g. matching the darker pattern in the tie), for a more formal attire, stick to a shirt that is either lighter (i.e. The classics such as light blue, white, light pink, etc.) or at the most the same tone as the tie's base color (which however requires a stronger pattern on the tie to avoid it looking too tone-in-tone).

 

[Caustic Man]

I don't think either of those ties are particularly attractive. The one on the left looks cheap and the one on the right looks cheap and like something a middle class golf jerk would wear. Nothing against you, but light colored ties are challenging enough without having goofy patterns on them.

 

[lullemans72]

The left one is definitely easier to combine. As a very simplistic rule of thumb to start off with and which will help in many cases: apply contrast by wearing a light tie with a darker jacket (and vice versa) and then try to pick up one of the tie's colors in another garment or accessory, e.g. socks, pocket square, watch, etc. Matching with the tie's "stronger" color, often the darker tone usually works best in bringing the pattern out. For a more casual look you can pair with a darker shirt (e.g. matching the darker pattern in the tie), for a more formal attire, stick to a shirt that is either lighter (i.e. The classics such as light blue, white, light pink, etc.) or at the most the same tone as the tie's base color (which however requires a stronger pattern on the tie to avoid it looking too tone-in-tone).

That's some solid advice there, man. Thanks. I'm a big fan of coordinating socks with other parts of my outfit. Same goes for pocket squares. The reason I picked the lavender tie with blue details is because blue is so easy to coordinate like you said. I don't own any darker shirts though, and I don't plan on getting any as of yet, so I think I'll stick to white or blue.

I don't think either of those ties are particularly attractive. The one on the left looks cheap and the one on the right looks cheap and like something a middle class golf jerk would wear. Nothing against you, but light colored ties are challenging enough without having goofy patterns on them.

No offence taken. You're right, that left tie especially does look cheap. I thought it would be cool to wear when I saw it at the store, but once I did, I realized it was a poor decision. The tie doesn't sit or drape well due to its texture. And with only 7 cm in width, it's also not ideal for anything larger than a half windsor. Also, due to its texture, it's also not easy to form a tie dimple. If I can manage to get one in there, it won't look as dapper as on some of the other ties I have. And speaking of tie dimples, that is what I personally judge a good tie on. If I can easily form a dimple and it stays there, I'll consider the tie superior quality. As for price range, nearly all my ties are in the 40~50 USD price range. I don't usually pay more for ties than that, and among those, some drape better than others.

 

[shrink1061]

An interesting thread and one to which i'll commit the following image:

I hadn't personally felt there was much issue with the combination, as the strength of colour elsewhere in the tie pulled together the blue in the shirt and the grey in the suit, but elsewhere on this forum, this combination received some criticism.

In defense of the outfit, the suit is actually a great deal lighter in tone than is evident from this rather murky photograph, and is a mid slate / grey wool / mohair mix.

I have no objection to being proved wrong, but It wasn't a pairing I objected to myself, and found it odd that others might.

I'd appreciate the wider thoughts of this audience.

 

[SartodiNapoli]

I love pure camel ties, in fact I am always buying this kind of textured fabrics.