How to match a pocket square to a tie

The rules for a pocket square fit on a postcard: share one colour with the tie, vary the pattern, and fold it to suit the day.

Complement, don’t match

A square in exactly the tie’s cloth can look a little studied for every day. The eye likes the two to be related rather than identical — brothers, not twins.

Related means one colour in common. A navy tie with red dots takes a red, white or pale blue square; a wine paisley takes one with a thread of wine or gold in it. Pick up the second colour in the tie rather than the first, and the pairing looks chosen rather than coordinated.

There is a practical reason too. A square that copies the tie doubles its pattern, and two of anything bold is one too many.

Vary the pattern and its scale

If the tie is patterned, the square can be plain or carry a different pattern at a different scale: a paisley tie with a spotted square, a striped tie with a paisley one, a plain tie with almost anything.

Two patterns of the same size compete, and two of the same kind — dots with dots, paisley with paisley — look like a matching set that missed. A plain silk tie is the easiest partner for a busy square.

Cotton pocket squares come in boxed packs of five, which is a sensible way to start: five polka-dot squares or five paisleys in different colours will answer most of the ties a man owns.

Shirt, jacket and no tie

The square can take its colour from the shirt instead of the tie — pale blue with a pale blue shirt and a navy tie — but don’t match all three. White with a white shirt is the exception, and a fine one.

The jacket has a say too. A navy or grey suit takes almost any square; tweed wants warmer colours — rust, mustard, green — and a dinner jacket wants white.

With an open collar, the pocket square does the work of the tie, so it can be brighter: a puff of coloured silk in a navy blazer is smart enough for most lunches.

With tweed, country pocket squares suit a plain or wool tie. With a country tie, choose a plain square in one of its colours, so the pheasants don’t have to share.

White: the safe default

A plain white square — linen, cotton or silk — goes with every tie, every suit and every occasion from an interview to a funeral. Folded flat in the presidential fold, it is the most correct thing a man can put in his breast pocket.

If in doubt, start with a white silk pocket square and add colour once you own a tie you want to pick a thread from. Ivory or cream does the same job with tweed, a brown suit or a cream shirt.

The exception: weddings and sets

At a wedding, matching is the point. The groom sets the colours and the party follows, and a tie and pocket square in the same cloth make six men look like one party in the photographs.

Wedding tie and pocket square sets make it simple to dress the party alike. The groom can wear the same set in a different colour, or the same tie with a plain white square, so that he stands apart.

Away from weddings, a matching tie and pocket square set is the easy present — one box, nothing to get wrong — and the two can always be worn apart. The square in a set is usually about 30cm across, the same as one bought on its own, and folds neatly into a breast pocket.

Fold by formality

The fold matters as much as the colour. The flatter and straighter, the more formal; the softer and fuller, the more relaxed.

Silk holds a puff and a soft point; cotton and linen hold a crisp edge. Every fold is shown step by step in how to fold a pocket square, and the tie itself is covered in how to match a tie to a suit and shirt.