Pocket Square + Boutonniere

[Josephine]

Who said anything abouit matching ties to pocket squares?

My question to you gents out there is this: is it a faux pas to wear a matching tie and pocket square?

Widebrim was asking.

[cufflinkmaniac]

Widebrim was asking.

Boy do I feel dumb.

[Bugsy]

Be daring and wear both. I do.

This is the black tie look that I ultimately hope to achieve, but I have heard that wearing a pocket square and boutonniere is a faux pas. What are your thoughts (if I were to wear both the PS would be white linen)?

[/IMG]

Pretty suave,huh? And on a side note,what do you think about the pocket square in the link posted? I would rather have a linen PS without the border,but this one is extremely budget friendly. If anyone can offer insight as to other places where one can get a white linen pocket square on the cheap, I'd appreciate it.

http://www.paulfredrick.com/catalog/...ategory&Slno=1

I also plan on getting a red silk from Mens Wear House ($6.99 for a silk PS,hard to top that) to wear when not sporting a boutonniere.

[Dashing1]

The flipside of this thought is people try to look so casual, dashing, and classic they look extremely contrived.

I've yet to see anyone trying to look "too casual" with a pocket square.

[Baron Kurtz]

I suspect casual was being used in rather a different sense. More effortless than lack of effort.

Not being a wearer of pocket squares (too fussy for me) i have little to add to the discussion, so English it is.

bk

[Geesie]

I've heard that it's better to coordinate the pocket square with the shirt than the tie.

[B. F. Socaspi]

I've heard that it's better to coordinate the pocket square with the shirt than the tie.

And I've heard perfection lies in having a pocket square not overly-coordinated with the tie nor the shirt, but complimenting both.

Why must beauty hide in the details!

[Dashing1]

The great men of style always have a practiced isouciance. Archibald Leach practiced to become Cary Grant. Gary Cooper used to drag his denim jeans & shirts behind a car until they had the proper "naturally" worn and frayed look. The key is to own your look with confidence.

As pocket squares go, I would argue that it looks far more sterile and contrived to match the square to the tie than to show a bit of (perhaps intentional) sprezzatura.

One would be hard pressed to show visual examples of non-tie-matching pocket squares that look contrived, whereas one can find numerous examples of silly-looking matching square-tie combos!

[Baron Kurtz]

Just look over at certain StyleForum-ites (also sometime members here). They can contrive to make anything look contrived. Or all the perfectly imperfectly angled hats up in the hats section … is 30 or 35 degrees from the horizontal brim the perfect insoucance?

I honestly think that Cary Grant's look really does come from not caring whether something was slightly off. Not from caring that things "must be" slightly off.

bk

[Dashing1]

A better way to frame the matching tie-pocket square debate might be to ask, "Can anyone show visual evidence of a man widely considered to be consistently really well-dressed (e.g. Cary Grant, George Clooney, Douglas Fairbanks types) who wears matching pocket squares and ties?"