Material
For your ties and pocket squares during this season, you need to go all in with wool. There’s also technically cashmere, but there’s not a lot of them being made and I find them to be obscenely expensive when a wool tie looks just as good.
The reason you go all in on wool is because you want your accessories to compliment the fabric weights of the items you’ll be wearing during the various seasons, so if you were wearing silk or linen ties, which are for Spring and Summer, with your heavier wool suits or sport coats, it would look really off.
Colors
As I mentioned in the Series intro, this is the time of year to wear some nice, rich colors, like:
- greens
- shades of blues
- burnt oranges
- grays
- burgundy
- browns
Patterns
As far as patterns, it’s also the best time of year to wear plaids, paisleys and polka dots because they’re visually heavy and pair so well with your Fall and Winter wardrobe.
The one area that I see men really have an issue, though, is with matching these patterns and colors together with their outfits or other accessories.
A good rule of thumb is:
If your tie is a bolder pattern, like a paisley or plaid, then you want your pocket square to be more subtle or as close to a solid color as possible. It doesn’t have to be a solid, but when in doubt, go for a solid one. This ensures you don’t have too many patterns clashing. (See the video above and outfit images below for examples)
And the inverse is true for a patterned pocket square – go for a solid or very subtle patterned tie.
This helps balance these items out so you don’t look like a goofball.
Best ways to wear Wool Ties and Pocket Squares
TopMan Selected Homme Brown Wool Rich Suit Jacket
The Tie Bar Chambray Shirt
The Tie Bar Wentworth Plaid
The Tie Bar Kingsley Attune Pocket Square
The Tie Bar Metallic Navy Tie Bar
Diesel Buster 0607A Jeans
Allen Edmonds Poplar Dress Belt
Johnston & Murphy Nolen Double Monkstrap Shoes
John Varvatos Prince Sunglasses
H&M Wool-Blend Blazer Slim Fit
Burberry Slim Fit Cotton Poplin Shirt
The Tie Bar Score Check Tie
The Tie Bar Olive Green Tie Bar
The Tie Bar Southeast Plaid Pocket Square
Diesel Buster 0607A Jeans
Allen Edmonds Poplar Dress Belt
Allen Edmonds Strand Cap-Toe Oxfords with Dainite Rubber Sole
IWC Portugieser Automatic Dress Watch
Tom Ford Snowdon Sunglasses
The Best Wool Ties
Notes About My Recommendations
The ties from Tom Ford, Alexander Olch, and Thom Sweeney are pricey, but you’re paying for a high quality, luxurious accessory that’s timeless. If you’re going to shell out this amount of money for a tie, then you want to make sure it’s easy to wear and it’ll never go out of style.
For fun patterned ties that are also easy on the wallet, I’m a huge fan of The Tie Bar (and no, they’re not paying me to say this). For great textured wool ties in solid colors, I love J.Crew. They also made a charcoal chalk stripe tie that is really easy to wear with your existing wardrobe.
$250 – Tom Ford Dot Wool Tie
$180 – Drake’s 8cm Houndstooth Wool and Silk-Blend Tie
$160 – Alexander Olch ‘The Spot’ Knit Necktie
$60 – J. Crew American Wool Tie in Charcoal
$20 – The Tie Bar Webster Medallions Tie
$20 – The Tie Bar Score Check Tie
$20 – The Tie Bar Woolf Houndstooth Tie
$20 – The Tie Bar Wentworth Plaid Tie
The Best Pocket Squares
Notes About My Recommendations
Brunello Cucinelli makes probably the best – in terms of color, pattern, and quality – pocket squares out there, in my opinion. The Hugo Boss and Alexander Olch pocket square and rounds are all the perfect shade of grey so they’ll pop really nicely from your darker suits or sportcoats.
The striped J.Crew pocket square will go with pretty much every Fall suit/sportcoat you have. For some great patterened options at an incredible price point, I love the double sided ones by The Tie Bar.
$95 – Armani Collezioni Chevron Patter Pocket Square
$95 – Marwood Slub Pocket Square
$60 – Boss Wool Patterned Pocket Square
$60 – Alexander Olch ‘The Birdseye’ Wool Pocket Round
$60 – Alexander Olch ‘The Windowpane’ Wool Pocket Round
$30 – J. Crew English Wool-Silk Pocket Square in Stripe
$10 – The Tie Bar Kingsley Attune Pocket Square
$10 – The Tie Bar Quest Tooth Pocket Square
$10 – The Tie Bar Wentworth Houndstooth Pocket Square
$10 – The Tie Bar Southeast Plaid Pocket Square