Let's talk about how to choose a good tie. 🧵
derek guy@dieworkwear
10 views
Oct 27, 2026
~3 min read
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Let's talk about how to choose a good tie. 🧵
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Like suits, ties can have meaning. This meaning is determined by things such as color, pattern, texture, sheen, and fiber.
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My guess is that you already know this. If you had to go to a funeral tomorrow, would you choose: the black grenadine on the left or the "fuck you" tie on the right? Probably the black grenadine.
Both ties below are from Chipp Neckwear, who makes their ties in NYC.
Both ties below are from Chipp Neckwear, who makes their ties in NYC.
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On a basic level, most people will rarely go wrong with a solid colored grenadine (pic 1) or repp stripe (pic 2). These basics will work any time you have to wear a tie, especially in conservative colors such as navy, black, burgundy, hunter green, or dark brown.
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But sometimes you want to communicate different things. On a basic level, this might be about seasonality. Wool, cashmere, tweed, wool challis, and ancient madder are nice fall/ winter materials.
In order of appearance below: ancient madder, wool, and wool challis
In order of appearance below: ancient madder, wool, and wool challis
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Since these are fall/ winter materials, they're a natural pairing for fall/ winter tailoring: tweed sport coats, corduroy sport coats, and wool flannel suits. They can also be used to give your basic navy blazers and gray suits a seasonal touch. This says "I'm happy fall is here"
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For spring/ summer, you have materials such as linen, seersucker, Matka, Shantung, or other types of raw silk. You can see what a difference the material makes. Here are two solid blue ties—one in a silk rep, the other in linen. The linen one says "it's summertime."
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These seasonal materials are also more casual than your basic business ties. Like with the fall/ winter materials mentioned above, you can wear them with basic business suits to say "I'm glad summer is here." They also look great with casual summer tailoring.
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But you should also know what you're communicating. A fuchsia raw silk tie is very casual because of its color and material. To me, this is something you wear with seersucker or cream linen suits to summertime garden parties. The tie says "I'm here to have fun."
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Choosing a tie in this sense is about considering the message behind all of these various dimensions: the seasonal nature of the material, the meaning behind the color, and how things such as texture, sheen, and pattern play in the outfit.
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An aside: Macclesfield foulards, which is a term for small, repeating geometrics like the first photo, look great with suits. They are very much business ties. Rep stripes, such as those in the second pic, can be worn with suits or sport coats. Still business, but less so
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If you're just looking for a basic tie you can wear to anything, consider the solid blue grenadine. This is conservative enough for most situations. The subtle texture adds visual interest to plain outfits but won't clash with patterned one.
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Or you could get a couple of foulards and rep stripes, a couple of seasonal ties, and a black silk knit for when you want the most casual form of neckwear (at least in tie form). This gives you a wider range of choices with regard to material, pattern, texture, etc.
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This is where Walz could have improved. The plain smooth silk here is a little too plain. A touch more texture would have stylistically improved this outfit. Compare him to Obama at this year's DNC. Obama's tie isn't a grenadine, but the weave lends a similar effect.
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At tonight's debate though, Vance's tie was a distraction, while Walz's tie helped viewers focus on his message. At something as serious as a national debate, Vance would have been better served by a conservative business tie, not something you'd wear to summer garden parties.
