Matching your red tie…

Ties are a great way to stand out, whether in casual or formal situations. They’re probably the most well known accessory for men.

Confession: the simple fact of wearing a tie horrified me. I wanted nowhere near them. I didn’t see the point of wearing them and the simple fact that I had to tie them and untie them made me sleepy. Plus, I had no idea you could wear them with jeans.

But that was before I was hooked on men’s style. The time I bought my first slim tie was like a revelation. I did a quick Half-Windsor knot and boom.. I was out to the clubs.

One of the first colors men choose for their ties is red. Red is not your typical color to be worn but it works great on ties and pocket squares.

So I’m going to give you some tips on how to match it. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a formal dinner or for a night out partying – the color matching rules are the same.

We’re only going to discuss about a solid red here. If you can get a red tie with a nice pattern, that’s great. In that case, things get a little complicated when you match it with your shirt.

How do you match a red tie?

#1 With a white shirt

The white shirt is a timeless piece and it works great with a red tie. To resulting combination stand out, yet not too much.

What? You DO want to stand out more? Weeeheheeell… I have a great idea for you:

… add a red vest to the mix. See how that works for you!

#2 With a gray shirt

Gray is the second choice and it’s definitely more interesting than white. Think of the white shirt/red tie combination as a combination for beginners and of grey shirt / red tie as being more advanced.

OK, maybe advanced is not the right word because this is actually dead easy. The only thing to keep in mind when going for a gray shirt is to make good contrast.

The best gray I would personally go with is light gray. Dark gray simply doesn’t contrast that well with red.

#3 With a blue shirt

#4 With a checked shirt

Things are starting to get a little more interesting with a checked shirt. The red tie blue shirt combination is great but if we had a little less blue it would be fantastic. A white shirt with blue checks will give us just that.

These are just a few ideas to help you out find a matching shirt for your solid red tie. If you have a tie of another color or if you have a patterned red tie, go with whatever looks good to you (if you don’t have that feel for matching colors, I highly recommend my Be Stylish package).

Always remember that the image you project is tightly associated with the way your personality. So I encourage you to take things further and add a pocket square to your suit or sports jacket.