Shirts and Ties

You can really flex your color and print muscles when combining dress shirts  and ties.  Want more complex information? Read our guide on high quality ties.  The shirt-tie combination may be the most creative opportunity most gents get when it comes to fashion.  Perhaps you're not as stylish as Cary Grant or George Clooney, but this is your shot to show off whatever style sense they may have. Got no style? Read the Men's Guide To Getting Dressed. You should also check out Style Resources for Men.

Here are some starter tips for those of you on fashion training wheels.

No-Fail Shirt and Tie Combinations

White  and blue shirts  always work. Red ties  are powerful. Blue ties are compassionate. Solid color shirts and conservatively printed ties always work. Try simple diagonal stripes, an easy geometric print, or small polka dots in a basic color scheme. Make sure your tie has a bit of the shirt or suit color in it, unless the shirt is white. Starting out a new business wardrobe? Buy two suits, a week's worth of shirts and three ties and build from there.

Basic Rules to Live By

• Balance is the key.
• When it comes to ties: The brighter the color, the more conservative the pattern, and vice versa.
• When it comes to pairing a shirt and tie: The brighter the tie, the plainer the shirt, and vice versa.
• You can mix prints on ties and shirts, as long as they're not the same size. (In other words, small dots with large stripes are okay, but large stripes with large dots are a bad match.)
• Leave the printed tie/printed shirt/printed suit triple threats to the experts.

• 100% silk ties  are the best quality and knot the best.
• 100% cotton shirts  are the only dress shirts worth your time.
• Never wear a button-down collar with a double breasted suit.
• Collars should flatter your face.
• Narrow  faces get straight collars. 
• Round faces get straight point collars. 
• It's sad, but true...the monochrome tie look ended when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire went off the air.
• And novelty ties (singing Santa, large mouth bass, etc.) should be reserved for people who don't want to be taken seriously.
• As the classic film, Legally Blonde reminded us that, "No one looks good in paisley." (Don't lie. You've seen it.)

Now You Put Them Together!
Straight Collar Shirt in Solid Print  with a strongly printed tie.  Note the bright shirt color is offset by the milder tie color. Straight collars need a half-Windsor knot.	Button-Down Collar in Checked Print  with a broadly striped tie.  Button down collars need a four-in-hand knot. "Button-down" always refers to the collar, not the torso of the shirt.	Wide Collar Shirt with Pinstripes  with a solid color tie.  Wide collars (also known as spread collar shirts ) need a full-Windsor (also known as double Windsor) knot.	Long Sleeve Sport Shirt  does not get a tie. It's looser and more comfortable and should never be worn with a tie or a suit. Pair with a sweater or blazer in the fall. Can be work untucked if the hem is finished.	Short Sleeve Sport Shirt  has the same rules. Except they're even more informal and less respectable. Try to avoid them.

And Cuffs?

Regular Cuffs  have a single button (sometimes two,  for switching sizes) and are nice and simple. French cuffs  are held together by cufflinks  and create a sharp angle with the end of the shirt. Very sophisticated. Never wear french cuffs with a sweater. Be warned: French cuffs tend to get dirty faster than traditional cuffs. Since your cufflinks  will be relatively hidden, it's OK to show your sense of humor here. Consider cufflinks with initials,  a favorite hobby  or another theme that strikes your fancy.

How Do They Fit?

The more expensive a shirt, the better it will fit you. But if you look, you can get a well-fitted shirt for a reasonable price.

• That being said, shirts are measured by your sleeve length and your neck length. SYMS has a great guide for fitting.
• If it constricts your breathing, the buttons seem stressed, or the sleeves don't cover your wrists, it's too small.
• If you're swimming in it or the shoulders extend past your own, it's too big.
• Your tie must be tied to hit your belt line. No more, no less.
• Your shirt collar should come a bit above your suit collar and your shirt cuff a bit beyond your jacket cuff.

Shirt and Tie Care

• It's best to launder your shirts and hand press them. It will not only save on your dry cleaning bill, but it will preserve the life of your shirt.
• Better Lifestyle offers simple instructions on how to iron a dress shirt.
• According to Silkforme, this is the way ties should be handled:
• Never remove your tie by pulling the know until it comes free--untie it properly.
• Store ties hanging, preferably on a tie rack. 
• Try to keep stains off your shirt--use a dry cleaner if you stain your tie (and don't let the stain sit there for months!)
• Care2 allows other messy eaters to share their top 20 tips for getting stains out of ties.

External Links

• Ask Andy About Clothes -- Refined advice on color, print, fabric and texture.
• Ask Men -- Good, easy advice for shirts and ties, with examples of each.
• Best of British Shirts -- A sophisticated guide for mixing patterns in suits, ties and shirts.
• Hudson's Guide -- Suits, ties and shirts for the beginner. Great tie tying advice. (Written specifically for female-to-male transsexuals but helpful for anyone.)
• GQ -- The Style Guy gives great answers, always. Here is his shirts section.
• Neckties -- Which knots for which shirts and how to tie them.