Orange Saree’d Bridesmaids

I have been away doing this, which was written up here, but a few days back I received the following comment in the about me page:

First off, I just want to say I stumbled by your site by accident–well, kind of; I was trying to figure out which tie to get for my outfit–and I’m so glad I did. Your site absolutely rocks. Men need your help! Without you, we’d just pair blue with blue, red with red, etc. That is no way to live!  Also, I was hoping you could steer me in the right direction regarding what I should wear to my wedding, which is two weeks from now. I have a very nice, black, three-button suit, as well as a ecru-colored shirt with a basic straight collar. The bridesmaids are wearing deep orange/rust-colored sarees similar to this one:http://media.photobucket.com/image/rust%20saree/acedistributors/Ace%2520Sarees/pari.jpg

My groomsmen are in black, two-button suits with white shirts. I need to find ties and pocket squares for me and them. I’d like them to have ties and squares that match the bridesmaids in some way. As for me, I just want to (a) look good, (b) stand out from the groomsmen, and (c) not stick out in a bad way.  Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I’d even take photos and upload them for you, giving you full credit for “dressing” me. Thanks so much, and I hope to hear from you! Keep up the great work.

Best, Adrian

Here are my thoughts (and I am slightly rushed here due to the Holidays).  After the holidays, i.e. Sunday, I hope to be back full swing!  See you then 🙂 For the Groomsmen with the white shirts I thought to go this way.  They can afford the colored squares, and the square gets toned down with the tie which is black and Orange in the warp and weft and gives the impression of a speckled orange.  The closeup tells a better story. (forget about suit style , 2 or three button.  Here we are concerned with color)

Shown here in the pocket and in play:

If you are looking for some more color then you can go this way:

For the groom, I chose a more simple yet very rich Orange twill weave shown here and with the off white linen square to match the ecru shirt chosen:

Of course I would be remiss if I were to not bring in one of my all time favorite ties, the raw silk stripe against the bronzy rust silk, shown here with the always elegant white linen square.

Sully…I Lied

Who can forget that line from the Ahhhnold Classic, Commando:

“Sully, remember when I told you I would kill you last?  I lied”

Well I didn’t  lie intentionally here and I never meant that the Tie by Tie posts would take precedence over everything and in fact I did start with the retakes but today a customer asked me a question pertaining to a black suit being worn to the Company Holiday Party with this tie and this square.  I have already illustrated how a black suit works well with the Tie and square in More on Black and Orange .  Here the question was what color shirt might I pair with this.

Figuring that white was too plain for the party and would also not get much use afterwards, and cream was just a step away from white I suggested a mint green shirt or a shirt with green Stripes:

Here is the result (and I didnt have a great minty colored shirt for this other than the kids shirt which didnt photograph well enough to show the color.).  The green striped Hickey Freeman His First shirt shows enough of the concept that Black and Green works well and orange blends in nicely.  To get a good feel for the combo I have also included a High res Link.

As always I welcome thoughts and comments.

Which is the sum of these parts:

This link will take you to the High res.  I think its worth a gander.

Finally, here is the mint.  This particular mint was too pale.  A solid darker mint will really give this tie a new dimension.

Orange and Navy

While orange and rusty orange works well with black, another nice combination is orange and navy as orange in all its forms will brighten up navy.

Here you have a navy suit with a light blue shirt (looks grey in some pics but its a pale blue pique) and a slate blue square paired with a host of orange ties, starting with that paisley weave from earlier in the week.

The square looks like this, a whimsical honey jar pattern with a floral pattern on the fabric.  Nice enough but I thought we could do better.

So we swap it out for a darker navy square whose darkness serves to highlight the bright flowers on it thereby giving the square a presence in the pocket despite its dark nature. (for more on contrasting your square with your jacket see this post.)

And the final effect is this:

This textured stripe uses a soft green with large orange stripes.  The introduction of the soft green and the soft orange instead of the earlier paisley add color without overdoing it.  Green, orange, blue and navy together, write it down, its  a wining combination.

This heavy blue four fold might be predominantly blue but there are enough orange flowers to give it “orange” status.  I like how fresh the tie looks. Besides, it reminds me of my youth when back in the day when my Dad of blessed memory bought a Yankees and Mets cap for me and my brother and he  grabbed the Yankees cap and I became a defacto Mets fan 🙂

Here we move away from the classic oranges to more yellowy/mustard orange in the form of this Petronius four fold.  I believe that this tie is a 50 oz. Twill.

And finally back to an orange with a rust tinge tie coupled with a darker bottle green flower.  Also a Petronius four fold.

PS:  Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans and anyone else that is celebrating today!

More on black and orange

Here is some more on the black and orange theme, as well as the charcoal and orange.  I added here the burnt orange with the black and the charcoal and orange stripe.  I think you will agree that the combo is super sharp and its almost as if the tie was made for that suit.

Here with the orange version of yesterday’s woven paisley.  Framed by a black suit and grey twill shirt.  (Great luxurious hand on that shirt).   As I mentioned yesterday the ties are busy and bright enough for a plain off white linen square.

The burnt orange (sigh, what a beauty) tie with the same black suit.

And the same order with the charcoal and orange pin stripe suit.  You only get the true color of the suit in the second pic.

Niiiiiiiiiice! 🙂

Ignore the following: its for verifying my blog on Technorati (thats supposed to be helpful):  JNRA83PPX998

http://www.fourinhand.com/Product.asp?dept=103002&Product=PD80E-01

Within Striking Distance

A customer requested some suggestions for a Black suit, White shirt, that would make the outfit “striking”.

Here are my suggestions. (Customer rarely wears a square so I felt it safe to go with a white linen square which is always nice and safe).

First up is the Taffetta Rust with raw silk stripes.  I love this tie and  I dont think that its fully understood.  Its Sharp, Its different and its got POP!

Another great combo.  A rich plum, almost fuscia and dark pinkish stripe.  The fabric is also unique giving it almost a wrinkled look, but oh so nice.

Nothing like oldies but goodies.  Rusty red with a gold braided stripe here.  Great irridescent depth to the tie due to the different colored warp and weft.  A classic pattern for FIH.

Hey, we have seen this feller before.  But he is certainly still makes the grade.  A crisp satin base rust and beige make it a great popping tie against the black and white.

Should be peachy but pictured like an orange.

This is a true orange.  Not on the site it seems.  But close to it is this.

Last but not least is this paisley stripe,  an amazing tie up close  when you get to see all that is happening in there.

For Work and for Play

Using a  Hickey Freeman jacket that can be used in both a work and a play setting, I ended up with something like this for work which when you swap out the serious black tafetta tie, you get a whole different look.

SO here we go with the Taffeta Tie.  Nice serious Mature look.  I think certainly business like enough (unless you are in a suit and tie office.  The square gives a little life to the look without making it too much.  (Incidentally, I think that they square has no less than NINE colors in it.  Vintage silks.  They dont make them like they used to.) and the Shirt is a Grey twill.

Swpa the tie out for the Burnt Orange/Rust Taffeta and Raw Silk Stripe number… (I love that tie) and tone the square down a notch (or you dont have to) and you get this: (as an aside the tie works really well with a black or charcoal Grey suit)

Swap the square for one from the vintage group ( Also not on the site) for this look:  This gives the contrast on the breast along with the orange complementing the tie.

A real burst of orange in the tie will yield this.  may just be too much.  Incidentally, the tie is a little darker than this shows like you see in the linked photo.

If orange is not your thing then try livening the black up with some plum colored articles, be it the tie (Again this is for more fashion related jobs and not your usual Law Firm office) to get this look:

And Adding to the tie the Crepe White Silk Square with Burgundy Hand Stitching.  (I swaped out the shirt here for a fine plum stripe but the gray works as well).

To add a little more life to the square, keep the tie and add the Satin Silk Square with hand rolled edges.

And shown with the same square simply reversed.