Tuesday, April 7, 2009

{Such A} All tied up and the first Redkat Contest!

Recently I was questioned by a male friend about the right way for a man to coordinate a tie with a dress shirt. My first answer was, "Easy. Solid shirt and a patterned tie. End of story." My friend was unimpressed with my answer, which spurred me to wonder...could there actually be more to it than that? Happily (and you'll see why at the end of this post) I was half-wrong with my simple answer. Yes, solid/print is a win but what about stripes, plaids, prints? Here are a few basic rules I've crafted based on my research.

SOLID SHIRTS
• White shirt -anything can go with a white shirt. It's the same idea as a blank canvas...any color of tie will work.
• Color match - if you have a blue shirt, go for a navy tie, yellow shirt, darker yellow tie -- you get the idea. If you go tonal, you can't go wrong.
• Solid shirt/Print tie - think about the complimentary colors that you know of - a blue shirt with a crimson tie, a creme shirt with a brown tie, a pink shirt with a red, blue or yellow tie. If you aren't sure what are complimentary colors, try taking a look at color wheel.

PRINT SHIRTS
Now we get into what I used to think was the complicated matching, with print shirts and print ties. But really, it's a simple process.
• Striped shirt - stand back from the shirt and determine what color is the main color. This is the color that needs to be most prevalent in your patterned tie. You also need to make sure your pattern works with stripes. If you happen to have a striped tie with a striped shirt, follow the ratio of 2:1 and go for a tie that has stripes twice the width of your shirt stripes.
• Plaid shirt - same as with a striped shirt, you will need to step back and evaluate which color is the main color in the shirt. You'll want to pick a tie with this same prevalent color. If you choose a pattern of dots or boxes for your tie, you want to make sure that they are larger than the check pattern on the shirt.

I'm sure you're wondering why I'm spending an inordinate amount of time talking about men's ties. I am holding my first blog contest, and the topic is ties! See, I told you there was a happy reason for this post.

Kwame Jackson, former contestant from season one of the Apprentice has designed a line of men's neckties called Krimson By Kwame. Polkadots, paisley and gorgeous stripes -- these ties are serious neck-candy for men. Kwame will be in Cincinnati to show off his ties as part of a trunk show on April 23rd with local clothier Corwyn Apparel.



But, if you'd rather just "do lunch" with Kwame, then enter my contest. Simply visit Krimson by Kwame and pick your favorite tie. Vote using the comments at the bottom of the post. Include the name of the tie and the reason why it's your fave. The winner of the contest will meet and have lunch with Kwame, as well as be invited to the trunk show on April 23rd at the Banker's Club.

My fave? The San Francisco. Why? It's an elegant dark red paisley tie that I would absolutely figure out a way to wear...I'm thinking maybe as a sash to dress up a simple shift? In any case, it's my favorite Krimson by Kwame tie -- what's yours? Contest ends on April 17th!




10 comments:

David Esrati said...

I like the helsinki-it's on target!
Would look awesome on a black shirt.

FoodHussy said...

Key West - LOVE IT!

Candace Silvasy said...

The Nassau drew my eye immediately. The deep hue of the royal blue hypnotically holds the eye. Scattered red pointed ovals, which have a semi-transparent quality, could almost be a school of fish.

Work apparel so reminiscent of a dive in the Caribbean that it invokes vacation vibes? Spectacular!

5chw4r7z said...

I like the Malibu, the blue plaid just make me think spring, short sleeve shirts and afternoon drinks downtown.

JoeFish said...

Impanema. Definitely.

Becky said...

I'm digging the retro but sunny Paris. (Plus, I LOVE Paris!)

Thanks!

Debba
www.girlfriendology.com

Robin Feltner said...

So glad to see Kwame venturing into fashion!

I love all Kwame's unique styles! Krimson by Kwame is also a great name. Go Kwame!

I keep coming back to the Portland and Asheville. I think the colors would look good with many skin tones, from very dark to very light skined men. Both are classy power ties that scream sexy!

The Asheville could go preppy as well...another favorite look of mine. I love the vibrant greens of both ties.

...I also think those ties would look good, loosly around my own neck.....but that's a whole other topic and not appropriate for daytime blogging! ha!

hugs!
Robin

Rob Bunting said...

Wow, hard to choose as there are a lot of great ties here. I like the Helsinki and agree with Monika that the San Francisco is sharp, but my vote is for the Quito.

NKY Chamber said...

I vote for the Bali. I really like the color scheme of the baby blue and light purple. The material is also fantastic! Honestly there were so many to choose from it was quite difficult.
- Sarah Klamo

The Green Arrow Project said...

First, gotta love the website's music..reminds me of the time I got stuck in a NYC elevator (happend to me twice in my life! I'll save that story for another day)...but back to ties. I like Kwame's collection a lot! I have a few fav's, but the one that stands out to me is the "Vancouver"..I know, surpised me too...I'm not much of a orange guy, but for some reason I kept going back to it. I think it's because it's bold, stands out (great conversation piece) and has a cool Asian rice/falling leaf type pattern to it...reminds me of a Miami, FL sunrise and the great sushi by the beach! This tie has a warm and soothing feel to it..yet bold enough to grab the attention of an innocent lady with a dirty martini in hand from across the room (I think this website's music is messing with my head). It's one of those ties that people could not resist commenting on. Gives you a good ice breaker. In a conservative place like Cincy.filled with solid, poco-dotted, stripped ties, it's nice to see something off the beaten path (matches my personality!)..I'd love to wear it out for cocktails or a nice sunny day at Keeneland or Derby! It's also spicy enough to go with a black pin striped suit for a night out on the prowl at a NYC type lounge or speakeasy. I have several suits that this would go great with and in fact, I'm about to purchase it! Thanks for introducing this line to me..He's got good taste!
David F.

 
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