Matching Ties to Shirt

Today, there was a customer looking for a gift for his friend, who always wears blue and pink stripes. And he asked me for a suitable tie. I recommended him a few but he took no liking to either of them. Not wanting to risk losing sales, I asked Chris to step in to help.

I thought his delivery was confident and professional. I, on the other hand, sounded like I was very dubious of my own matching. Reason being, I'm not sure of what goes with what.

Therefore, the post today shall focus on how to match ties to shirts. I believe I will be more confident after doing some research.

Did some googling and I realise colour matching begins with the colour wheel:

I found out that there are a few ways to match colours (this will be in my own terminology and language, to aid my understanding) :


(1) Colours of the same hue (slice of pizza) .

This is the safest way to match. Just take a basic colour and imagine myself mixing it with different amounts of white poster colour. Especially so when its three colours of the same hue, it creates harmony that is soothing and beautiful. I can vary the order of the lightness ( instead of going from dark to light) to create variety and synchrony at the same time.

(2) Colours of similar hue (adjacent slice of pizza)

I can also match these colours, but whats important will be the shades.
[ Light - white base. Dull - gray base. Dark- Black base. Vivid- original shade of pizza]

Light + Dull colours = Spring
Dull + Dark = Autume/ Wintery Sombre
Vivid + Light = Summer

2 light + Dull/Vivid
2 Dull + 1 Dark = Autumn

Never add too many vivid colours together, one method would be to separate them with a light colour.

(3) Contrasting Hues ( slices of pizza separated by 3 slices in betwn them)

2 light colours= soothing effect
light + dull = contrasting blend

For three colours of contrasting hues, the trick is to use three colours that are separated by three slices of pizza in between them.

2 Dark + 1 Dull
2 Dark + 1 Vivid

(4) Complimentary Hues ( opposite slices of pizza)

Never vivid+ Vivid!
2 light, Dark+ Dull, Light+vivid, Dark + vivid.

(5) Achromatic Hues ( Gray/Black + 1 slice of pizza)

Light + Gray/ Dark Gray
Dull + Dark Gray/Black
Vivid + Light Gray/ Black
Dark + Gray/Black

We have to watch out for dull muddled colors like dark brown or olive green. These colors have a tendency to have too much gray in them and make blending against gray difficult.

Other colors when used in achromatic hues color coordination should always be used as an accent. For example, a gray suit with a dull-colored pocket square to bring out a nice subtle contrast.

Armed with this basic knowledge of colours, I hope I can better serve the customers today. I can do it.