How to wear a suit without a tie

In the modern age, a man is not always expected to don a tie with his suit – gone is the Victorian era of rigid and class based clothing (thank goodness). Today you can almost wear what you want, although we wouldn’t advise that. There is an art to being a well dressed man, as there is to being a well groomed man and here at Bear Grooming we have a few tips to set you on the right track. Today we are looking at how to pull off the suit, with no tie.

How to Wear a Suit Without a Tie

One thing you need to make clear first of is that you meant to turn up without a tie. It is no good dressing to impress if people think you have just forgotten part of your clothing, or you are just plain lazy. The best way around this is to make sure the whole look, from top to bottom suits the no tie look. For example you can always tell who that guy is at the party who has ripped his tie off later on in the night, perhaps to get down on the dance floor. The rest of his look wont match up to to his tie-less top half. There are a number of tips to getting this right, lets take a closer look:

The fit. How your suit fits is vital and it is perhaps the most important part of this ensemble, after all your suit will be the most noticeable factor in what you are wearing. Not too tight and certainly not baggy. Without a tie it is always better to be more tight than anything else. A baggy suit without a tie can be a disaster. Go for a tailored suit, or pop into a tailor before hand and make sure your suit is looking sharp.

Don’t wear the business suit, non-casual is the key. A very formal suit, such as a wedding suit or a business suit doesn’t really fit the no tie look. Especially the wedding or dinner suit, avoid these at all costs. Aim for a casual, stylish suit, perhaps with some interesting colours. You are looking for less structure and slimmer notch lapels – light fabrics, such as linen, work quite well for this as well.

The collar is the frame. The collar of your chosen shirt is just as important as the fit and the suit you go for. The collar on your shirt acts as a frame for your face, naturally then you will want to try on a few different shirts and try to find the collar that suits your face shape. If you are going without a tie to keep the collar firm, then you want to make sure the shirt has a fairly straight, stand up collar. But again be careful not to overdo it! Of course, most importantly don’t forget to give it a good iron and add starch if need be.

The two button rule. We are sure you know enough to know that the tieless look doesn’t support a buttoned up shirt, the whole point of this look is cool and casual. This goes both ways however, you don’t want to go too many buttons undone either. First and foremost if you have an undershirt, do not let this show! If you have a little chest hair, this is acceptable and perhaps even preferable for some of the ladies out there. Whatever you do, don’t undo more than two buttons as you then enter the land of sleaze. You don’t want to go there, particularly if you are on the pull.

Accessorise. A tie is a the king of accessories, therefore without one you are in need of others to make up for its absence. You want things that are going to draw the eye, but match up with your overall look. Perhaps a nice watch, a cool bracelet, or a pocket square. All will do the trick, although with the pocket square avoid the square-folded white, as this is far too formal for what we are going for. Again something patterned or colourful with a nice puff fold should do the job.

Shiny shoes. Without a tie serving as a suit’s focal point, more attention will be paid to other details of your outfit, so make sure you’ve got them all right. That includes making sure your shoes are looking spiffy.

And that is all you need to know to make the suit with no tie look, work for you. Just make sure the colours of everything else compliment each other, you have one main focal point – perhaps the suit, or the shirt – and the rest is built around that focal point. And of course if you are bearded man, get that beard looking sharp too as a scraggy beard with all of the above can still ruin the whole look!