Style - Menswear

Wall Street Journal - February 25, 2006

The Ice-Cream Man Cometh Style p5

Written By Ray A. Smith

Menswear - This spring's pastel ties are on a collision course with your shirts. How to make a match.

Say peach, pistachio or lemon and people are likely to think of flavors of sherbet, sorbet or ice cream. This spring, they're the colors designers are pushing for neckties.

In stores from Brooks Brothers to Bloomingdale's, the tie racks are brimming with pastels. The trend marks a departure from last spring when tie collections tilted more toward electric colors like fire-engine red and royal blue. Some industry observers are already worried that men will throw up their hands at trying to match the new colors with the pastel-colored shirts they've added to their wardrobes in recent years -- especially shirts with contrasting white collars.

"I think it will be a real problem," says Robert Burke, a fashion consultant and former fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman. "No one wants to look like the ice-cream man -- one piece of pastel is plenty."

The list of designers doing ties in subdued colors nevertheless includes Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna and Giorgio Armani. Paul Stuart increased its pastel tie offerings by 30%, adding more teal, peach and mint green. Joseph Abboud says pastels account for 35% of its spring ties, up from 20% last year. And Brooks Brothers is showing some without the navy blue accents it has traditionally used to make its pastel ties seem safe.

When it comes to fashion, men are notoriously resistant to matching anything more complicated than a red tie and a white shirt. That's been an issue in recent years as designers have tried to get them to mix striped and checked shirts with striped ties. Even guys who snapped up shirts in pale pinks and greens, stylists say, are often more comfortable pairing them with a sedate tie. The new pastel-on-pastel combinations up the complexity quotient.

To avoid looking like an Easter egg, you should match at least one color in your tie to your shirt, stylists say. For example, a lavender shirt with a white collar should be paired with a tie that includes either white to match the collar or lavender or even light pink to pick up on the lavender in the shirt, says Samantha von Sperling, a New York image consultant. The idea is create a "that-makes-sense" relationship, she says.

What you don't want is to clash -- think lavender and orange -- or create monotone looks where the tie is the same shade as the shirt. Ms. von Sperling also advises against combining very light and dark shades of the same color, say pale orange and bitter orange, because the combination might be too jarring. And even she had trouble making an aqua tie work with anything except a white shirt.

Stylist Lloyd Boston, who serves as a fashion expert on NBC's "Today" show, suggests pairing either warm hues like red, orange and yellow or cool ones like pale green, blue and lavender. Beginners shouldn't mix the two, especially in conservative workplaces, he says, adding: "As you become more confident, you can start mixing those hues together."

At Bloomingdale's, meanwhile, expect to see lots of lavender ties -- with brown accents. "Brown and lavender mixes are a great way to keep the tie more masculine" and "more classic," says Kevin Harter, the chain's men's fashion director. "While color is very important for spring, I think a lot of guys are sometimes scared to embrace the bright colors under their suits."

This Story ran in The Wall Street Journal, Pursuits Section, Page P5, February 25th, 2006.

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