When we tell you that matching your tie with the rest of your outfit is not a rocket science, we are dead serious. Think of the last science fiction flick that you saw. Did any of the scientists have any fashion sense?

That is not to say that matching a tie needs to be overly difficult. In fact, the problem is usually just that matching a tie is so simple, most people simply over look it. We want to start with two basic vocabulary words, match and coordinate. When you match two colors together, they will be duplicates such as red matches red. That said, red and burgundy will not always match, but red and red will. When you coordinate two colors together, they will be complimentary. Shades of yellow coordinate with blue. This same principle holds true for styles, patterns, and materials. Matching and coordinating balance each other to make the perfect wardrobe.

Unless you are a tie matcher extraordinaire, chances are that you generally do not see the perfect tie and try to build your entire wardrobe around a ten, twenty, or forty dollar strip of silk. For practical purposes in both finance and fashion, it makes sense to start with the largest piece and work backwards. That means starting with your suit, coordinating a shirt with your suit, and then finding a tie to fit them both. Once you have that method in mind, you are ready to start matching your ties to every thing else.

Chances are that you are intelligent enough to tell when some thing does not match or coordinate. A deep purple shirt with a black suit and a metallic blue tie, fail both of our important vocabulary words. Since you are not likely to make that mistake, we will warn you against the real danger of over complicating. You may start to get the hang of tie matching when you are done reading, but do not go to extremes. Decide what it is that requires you to wear a tie and determine how you want to be perceived as classy, elegant, gentlemanly, conservative, edgy, or stylish?

Keep your chosen words in mind and keep your eyes open as you start to shop. You are smart enough to know that hot pink is probably more stylish than conservative, and that straight black is more elegant than edgy. When it comes to patterns, do not over kill any thing. The first is the solid pattern. Building off of that, you have pin stripes, and then stripes, checkered patterns, and plaid. Advanced tie matchers are able to take any of these and make some thing amazing. For you, we will boil things down to a few simple reminders.

The first is matching a solid shirt and a patterned tie. Generally, the tie ought to be darker than the shirt. With that said, the fore ground should include the same color as the shirt to help accent it. This is the conservative style. If you want to aim for some thing a little edgier in your style, try coordinating a lighter tie with a dark shirt. Remember, though, lime green and dark pink still do not coordinate, unless you want to look like a watermelon.

Next, try matching a solid tie with a patterned shirt. Hold your shirt at a distance, whether striped, plaid, or checkered, and take note of one of the colors of the pattern. If you pick a less noticeable color and find a solid tie that matches, you look fashion conscious. If you pick a more noticeable color and find a matching tie, that is still good and you will pass inspection.

In your outfit, use a maximum of two of any thing, except for plaid. If you have a striped suit and shirt, do not get a striped tie. You will look like a candy cane. Same for checkered patterns. Be sure that there is enough contrast in each matching pattern, though, to emphasize your visual appeal. Pin stripes on a suit and on a shirt are no good, if the shirt is thickly striped, you are set to go. When in doubt, it is better to keep the patterns separated. A striped suit will coordinate with a striped tie. Keep the shirt simple. You do not want people to get dizzy. Big contrasts little. Match on the small details and coordinate on the big ones.