Too much of any one thing is bad. Especially when it comes to patterns. You can match up colours but don’t overdose on one design. Ties, pocket squares and cufflinks should live up to their name – an ‘accessory’ to perfectly compliment your look, not dominate it.
It’s so much classier to keep it minimal. I prefer a plain tie, if you want to make an outfit look more stylish concentrate on your fabric choice over patterns.
I like to add a splash of interest with a pocket square. You can be a bit more adventurous here as it’s a smaller surface on show. I like silk, cotton or linen cloths for pocket squares as they aren’t too stiff and you can stuff them into your pocket without having to neatly fold or iron them.
Let me show you some examples on how you should be co-ordinating these.
1. Plain tie, patterned pocket square
2. Plain tie, plain pocket square
3. Patterned tie, plain pocket square
4. Mismatched patterns but colour co-ordinated
I would advise to have at least 3 plain plus 3 patterned of each item. I am a fan of black, grey, white, blues, greens and brown. Start with your staple basics then add 3 interesting patterns which will co ordinate with them. By having a minimum 6 of each accessory you have far more choice to be able to change your outfits up each week rather than bunching everything together as a set. Start building up a collection that can all be paired together in some way.
If you pick pocket squares that have plain edges and patterned middles they can look different each time you wear them. Depending on how they are folded or outside edge up/middle showing.
Pocket squares are the easiest way to liven up a look and the one item that you can never have enough of.
Consider how you put things together. A bit like denim on denim. I like to see different textures and tones matched well to make an outfit more interesting, without being offensive to the eye. Often people choose loud colours to try and stand out, this doesn’t work for me. Whilst there are no rules as such, some things just don’t look classy.
It’s a typical cliche but sometimes less really is more.