Wearing a shirt with tie?

There are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to the shirt and tie-combination. I’ll leave colour and patterns out for now, and focus on something equally important: having, and keeping, the top button buttoned.

Unlike what most (mainly Swedish) TV-presenters and ‘celebrities’ will have you think, leaving it unbuttoned doesn’t make you look casual yet dressed up. It makes you look like a slob. It makes you look like a man who hasn’t figured out your shirt neck size yet, who thinks it’s too warm or too uncomfortable looking good.

The top button stays buttoned all the way home, or atleast past midnight. And don’t even think of incorporating the unbuttoned shirt and tie-combination into a party outfit. That’s an Oh-no-don’t-do-it.

Time for some constructive tips:

• Figure out your shirt neck size. Ask for help in any place you can buy formal shirts, or ask a friend to take your measurement around your neck. It’s either in inches or centimetres.
• Leave perhaps 1 cm or 1/2 of an inch for shrinkage, unless you’re buying a slightly more expensive shirt. Those are usually properly pre-washed.
• If the size around the neck fits, but the rest of the shirt is either too big or too small, you’ve been trying the wrong model on. Ask for a slimmer or less slim model.

Remember, the cheaper the shirt, the less comfortable and warmer it’ll probably be. This due to cheaper chemical finishes, cheaper fabric made from synthetic materials, poor weave construction or all of it.

Happy buttoning!

Donald Draper from Mad Men. A character so well dressed that I’m still unsure what the main plot of the series is about. Now here’s a man that knows well enough not to unbutton the top button of his shirt until he’s in the safe of his own house.

My favourite combination is the grey suit - classic white cut-away collar shirt - solid blue tie in a regular knot-combination, completed with a white silk napkin. It’s simple enough to be absolutely brilliant.