A Dude's Guide To Buying A Tie

So say you are told by the boss that you have to be at this incredibly important meeting or cocktail and you are expected to wear a tie. Yes a necktie.

You are a creative and the last time you had a tie was at school when it was mandatory, the wedding you had to perekedza, your wedding and one other occasion you can’t remember.

So you walk into one of these stores in town – we won’t drop any names because they’re not paying for this – and there are 6,356,922 ties.

How do you decide which ones is yours?

Well here are a few tips for buying a tie.

Width is important. Fat ties are for clowns and other forms of entertainment that kids find incredibly cool. You’re not a kid are you? Ideal sizes are roughly about half the width of a US 1 dollar bill. And maybe just a wee-bit more.

What about skinny ties we hear you ask? Well there is a popular trend, especially with the younger men. With that the width of the tie has to match the width of your suit jacket’s lapels. So if you’re going to wear it with a jacket take that into consideration.

All this must also take into consideration your body type and the knot you will tie.

Proper Length. Yes there was a time when shorter ties were the in-thing. It’s not now. Why is this important? Because you want your tie to stay in place. You don’t want it swaying about like it is looking for a home. It’s there. So we are looking at it folding back. Too long also makes it look very bulky and lose shape and noone wants that.

tie_David_Wright — Tie – PHOTO: David Wright

Quality. They say every man who hates ties must have more than 8 ties. Not 8 of the same ties like you’re Seinfeld and you need the same sneaks every single time. There are different types of ties club ties, stripe ties, pin dot ties, and the lot. If you see yourself getting calls to attend more tie-insisting gigs then you need to have a collection. You do not want to be the guy who is known as the red tie guy.

What you want to make sure is you get the colours right. There are different colours for different seasons. Also you want to make sure that they are a good feel, even if they are not high-end silk. The very good ties have a 100% wool lining and that will put you back a bit.