The tie is part of our business life and we cannot imagine it without. Whoever is in contact with customers always wears a tie with suit and dress shirt. We would like to show you which colors and patterns work best for business and festive occasions. In addition, we provide the most important dress code recommendations for suit, dress shirt and tie as well as a guide for color combinations of shirt and tie.
The single-colored black or anthracite tie for a ceremonial evening, the single-colored tie in discreet shades of red or blue for a formal occasion but also a polka-dot tie with a dark colored base or a striped tie with unobstrusive tints. The office is the main place for striped ties – depending on the environment – more or less eye-catching.
In business
The tie is an eye-catcher. In business it symbolizes expertise, authority and reliability. Especially the color blue stands for power. Suitable ties in the office should be of unobtrusive colors and patterns - mainly shades of blue - and have small or wide-striped patterns with a maximum of 2 colors.
The single-colored tie can be worn for nearly any occasion, but the choice of color is essential. The striped tie has its origin in the Angle-Saxon region and is getting more and more popular also in other parts of the world.
- Single-colored ties: Yes, i. e. navy-blue or ruby. Light colors need a white dress shirt and a dark suit to create an effect.
- Striped ties: Yes, in important meetings and preferably in unobstrusive color combinations.
- Ties with allover-patterns: Yes, but restrained patterns, preferably with a dark-blue or ruby base.
- Polka-dot ties: Only in discreetly designed variants, i. e. white dots on a dark blue base.
- Paisley-pattern ties: Only in discreetly designed variants on an unobstrusive base color.
- Ties with Motives: Preferably not.
- Ties with fantasy-patterns: No, especially not in a conservative environment.
Festive occasions
- Single-colored ties: Yes, i. e. in discreet shades of blue and red. Black, silver and gray are also perfect colors for these occasions.
- Striped ties: Suitable only to a limited extent – if striped, only in discreet patterns.
- Ties with allover-patterns: Yes, but with an unobstrusive base color and discreet patterns.
- Polka-dot ties: Suitable to a limited extend, if used, only with really small dots on a dark base.
- Paisley-pattern ties: No.
- Ties with fantasy-patterns: No.
Dress code for office and formal events
When putting together the right outfit for a day at the office or an evening occasion, always start with the suit. Then add the matching dress shirt and finally the tie. Pay attention to both, the color and pattern combination. If your suit has stripes or checks, keep the shirt and tie plain. With a dark blue suit, for example, choose a finely striped dress shirt. A plain tie always goes well with it - (wide) stripes, however, can also be an interesting combination. Also pay attention to a good balance of colors and contrast. An outfit that looks too harmonic can quickly become boring; one that is too colorful looks too flamboyant.
Dress code for business
In a business environment chosse a suit in unobstrusive colors: preferably shades of blue and gray – lighter colors are also possible in summer. Black is not the color for a business suit - it is still strictly reserved for formal occasions in the evening. The suit should be pattern-free. The choice of tie and shirt is important. Too many mixed patterns are inappropriate. The rule is: combine small patterns with large patterns, but all patterns should be discreet.
The suit must dominate the overall look.
The right dress shirt should have the following colors: white, light blue or maybe rose. Discreet stripes or checks are also allowed in a conservative office. Whether patterned or unpatterned - the decisive factor here is the choice of tie. The Kent collar is always appropriate, fashionable and up-to-date. The spread of the collar can be different. Therefore the knot of the tie should be adapted to fill the collar triangle properly. Especially for conferences or important business meetings, the color of the shirt should always be white or light blue, preferably without any pattern. A short-sleeved shirt is out of question.
Basic colors for a business tie are blue and red in their different shades. However, the color shades are very important for a professional look. It requires intuition to combine the right colors. Mixing a bright red business tie with a white dress shirt might seem aggressive, whereas a light blue tie mixed with a light blue dress shirt might give an overall boring impression. However, this conservative rule no longer has to be consistently observed today. Today the business tie can be combined in different colors and these shades can also give a harmonic appearance. The most used tie patterns in business are stripes, starting on the top left side and ending at the bottom of the right side. It is important that the patterns of a business tie are neither obstrusive nor have colors and patterns which are too prominent. By observing these two rules, basically any tie design can be combined with a business outfit.
Properly tied
A perfect tie should have a length of about 145 – 150 cm. When tying the knot, it should be noted that the tip of the tie and the belt buckle form a unit. There are extra-long ties for tall men. The width of the business tie is varying as fashion goes – sometimes narrower, sometimes wider. The average width of a business tie is about 8,5 – 9 cm, with a length of 156 – 162 cm.
Dress code for festive occasions
The dress code for ceremonial occasions changed a lot over the years due to a radical change in the wardrobe. The conservative dress code is becoming less strict too; for ceremonial occasions in the evening, the classic tuxedo is often replaced by a black suit without shiny silk lapels. While the tuxedo is combined with the long tie more often, the tailcoat is threatened with extinction as a classic element of festive evening wear.
Nowadays, the tuxedo is definitely being replaced by a black suit with a black tie. At weddings, ties in silver or gold are appropriate for the groom. The shirt should be white or ecru. Patterns should be chosen very discreetly.
A dark suit, shirt and tie are always appropriate for ceremonial occasions. In summertime the color of the suit can be also a little lighter. A white shirt is the best choice for a conservative occasion, but you can also opt for ecru, light blue or pink when the occasion is less formal. In combination with a dark suit and white shirt, a tie in gold, silver or bronze tones underlines the conservative occasion in a really festive way. Never wear large patterns, flashy stripes or contrasting colors.
Strictly speaking, the following applies to a visit at a noble restaurant: never brown after six. This means that a black suit with black shoes is also recommended for this occasion. If you want to be on the safe side, wear a tie in a muted color with your white shirt. However, you can also wear ties with stripes. Regarding the shirt color, light blue and pink are also suitable and it is also fashionable to wear a black shirt with a gray or gray-black tie. This shows that you are very modern and up to date.
Combination shirt color/ tie color
A dress shirt should match a suit and be comfortable to wear - after all you will spend a good 12 hours in it. The business suit is gray or blue, usually without a pattern, occasionally with stripes, rarely with a light check. The suit goes well with shirts in white and blue, plain but often also with stripes or a subtle check, possibly as a Glencheck. Gray could also be considered an additional color. All other colors hardly play a role. 90% of all business shirts remain white and blue. Light blue shirts are ideal with a dark blue and gray suit and most ties go well with this combination.
Light blue is the ideal shirt color for the gentleman who always wants to be well dressed but doesn't want to spend a fortune and who doesn't want to constantly worry about which shirt and tie combination to choose. He should buy light blue shirts in different designs:
- With Kent collar and with cutaway collar
- With button cuffs and double cuffs
- Uni and with a light checked pattern
- With narrow and wider stripes