How To Wear A Suit Without A Tie [0:00:00]
How to wear a suit without a necktie and look great?
Gentlemen, that’s the subject of today’s video.
Are you ready?
Let’s get into it.
[Music] Okay.
So, before I get into the five things you need to pay attention to when you’re going
to wear a suit without a necktie, understand there are two general guidelines that you
need to be aware of.
First off, there is always a dress code.
Any place you go, it may be written, it may be unwritten, but there’s an expectation
of the way you’re going to present yourself.
So, if you’re going to a black tie event and they send you an invitation, it’s black
tie or you’ve been invited to a company event and it’s business attire, both of
these require neck wear.
Now, you can reject this and choose not to, but understand there are going to be consequences.
You may not get that promotion at work, you may simply upset the host who went through
all those trouble to put this black tie event together by kind of ignoring the invitations
she put out.
But, you can pull off this look I think in business casual.
Business casual for some people is just going to be a dress shirt with a nice pair of slacks.
Other people maybe a tie with jeans with, you know, dress pants.
This depends on the environment and it’s part of the unwritten dress code because in
San Francisco it’s going to be different than down in Houston, Texas or up in New York
City or Chicago or maybe in a rural area.
So, you’re going to have to, you know, make that judgment maybe look at the history, but
understand there are always dress codes and you want to make sure if you’re going to
wear this look of a suit without a necktie that it fits into that dress code.
Guideline number two.
You want to make sure this outfit looks like it was thought out and well put together.
You don’t want to make it look like you wear suit and you forgot your necktie, that’s
not what we’re looking for here.
You consciously chose not to wear the necktie.
So, you’re going to pay attention to other parts of the outfit and that is what we’re
getting into now, the five items that you need to pay close attention to.
So, the first thing you want to pay attention to when you’re wearing a suit without a
necktie is which suit are you going to wear.
In general, you want to go towards a more casual suit.
Now, you can pull off a very classic conservative very formal suit without a necktie, but it
is something that if not done correctly I think it has a little bit higher risk.
This suit right here, very classic conservative, this is going to be a more formal suit the
dark color dark navy.
We have three buttons.
Whether it will be three buttons or three buttons doesn’t matter too much.
But, again, this is a suit, it’s a jacket and a pair of trousers made from the same
material.
And I could wear this without a necktie, but it would be something that may not look, you
know, it may look a little bit out of place maybe too stark of a contrast, but I think
if you’re going to go casual you’re going to try to go without the necktie, start to
bring in more casual suits.
So, this one right here it’s got the peak lapels, it’s got the stripes, it’s got
the ticket pocket right over here.
This is going to be a more fun suit something that, yes, I could still wear it with that
white shirt and this is going to look really good.
Now, this suit right here, this is going to be even more casual, it’s got more casual
just right here, notched lapels and in general though, what do we notice?
It started to get lighter.
And, you notice that we’ve got black with white, we’ve got a little bit of a pattern
right in here.
Things like that are what we’re looking for in the more casual suits.
Right here, beautiful, right?
From a distance, this looks solid, but if you get up close, what I can see are four
different colors.
We’ve got a black, we’ve got two variations of blue, and then we’ve got, ah, it’s
a very light blue almost a white, very spec throughout this.
This is a casual suit.
Again, jacket, trousers made from the same material.
All of a sudden because it’s got a ticket pocket as well, so it’s stylistically a
little bit more casual.
This is going to look great because this is the right suit choice in my opinion to look
best with this more casual look.
Next up, let’s talk shirt choice.
So, what I love about the shirts I have right here, they’re probably already in your wardrobe.
So, you most likely have a solid white dress shirt, maybe you’ve got a dark navy blue
shirt.
If you watch my channel, you guys know this is one of my favorite shirts right here, I
think it’s very versatile.
You probably also got a light blue.
So, between these three shirts, they’re going to actually match all of the suits I’ve
got right here and that’s what you’re looking for.
I talk about this the interchangeable wardrobe, but the white right here because of the contrast
with any of the suits here and just the history the formality of this, this is going to be
basically the dressiest way you’re going to be able to take this up.
Right next to that is going to be the light blue, but I do think that even the dark blue
that I’ve got right here would still work with any of these?
Maybe not so much with the navy – navy on navy.
Some guys like it, it’s a very monochromatic look and they’re going to bring in color
elsewhere and they can pull that look off.
But, I like to have a little bit more contrast.
I could wear it with this one, maybe not so much with this one, I don’t really like
black and navy.
Some guys try to pull this off.
I definitely think it’s going to work with that blue on over there.
But, going with the solid is going to be one of the easiest ways to incorporate the shirt
when going without a necktie. [0:05:00]
Next up, let’s talk about shirts with patterns, shirts with color.
Shirts that are going to grab attention and without the necktie there, that’s okay.
It would be something if you had like a really nice necktie.
It could be competing with one of these shirts, but when you wear them under the jacket and
without the necktie, all of a sudden they can become the centerpiece, you could go with
something very simple.
This right here, again, I’ve got a navy shirt with a small dot repeating pattern.
It doesn’t really grab too much attention and it would work pretty much with any of
the suits I’ve got right here, all of a sudden I bring in a pattern and grabs a bit
more attention.
It’s got a white background and then it’s got this – this just like woven pattern
though a very interesting kind of a look, all of a sudden I’m bringing in a small
check a small repeating pattern.
This right here brings in a bit of color as well, it would probably work well with this
one right here.
All of a sudden, I’m bringing in a floral.
Now, floral doesn’t have a whole lot of color to it.
Actually, it has some blue a little bit of green.
That’s going to work great with this one right over here.
I can even pull it off with one of these two over here.
It would definitely lighten up that dark navy suit that I got.
And then, this one right here.
This one is going to grab attention even when it’s under a jacket people will see that
shirt, they’re going to be like wow.
But, it’s going to be something that, yeah, would be covering maybe look – will look
great with a necktie, but without a necktie this will be the center of attention.
So, a couple of things on these shirts right here.
I want you to notice the collar shape.
Notice this one has a spread collar and then this one’s got closer to a point collar.
So, the collar points here are going to be longer and this one right here is definitely
made for a necktie.
Now, you can wear it without a necktie, but you’ve got to worry about longer points
like this because they can flap over they can get out of control.
Also make sure that you’ve got collar stays and there are companies out there I know like
Wurkin Stiffs and other ones that they actually make magnetic collar stays, that can work
for some guys.
I’ve also talked about companies like the Million Dollar Collar that they actually make
and they sure actually have it, there’s a piece of plastic that runs in here that’s
specially made can be ironed over, it’s not going to melt on you and that actually
builds up the strength of the placket.
I like this to be supported and that’s what you’re looking for.
So, look at how it hangs, but I find that when you put the jacket over it actually will
keep sometimes ones with longer points, it will keep everything in place, but you’re
going to have to experiment, you’re going to have to mix them together, you’re going
to have to find the look that goes for you.
I do like the spread collars though they go back a bit, they don’t get in the way.
So, again, find what works for you, if need be make adjustments to the shirt make sure
it’s ironed, it’s pressed and then you’ve got a look that you’re going to – you’re
just going to look great whenever you pay attention to those small details.
Okay.
So, talking about small details, number three, let’s talk about your undershirt.
So, do not wear a crew neck undershirt that goes up to here and you’re showing this
off whenever you’ve got this unbuttoned.
We didn’t also talk about this on the shirt, but your undershirt, do you want to go one
do you want to go two depends on if you’re going to show the undershirt or not.
I would say it’s better to keep this button buttoned if you’re going to be showing your
undershirt.
But, if you wear a V neck like I am, you could actually bring this thing down.
Now, V neck undershirts you’re going to need to look for.
I love them because I can choose to wear them with or without.
I know so many of you guys that have a lot of chest hair, you wear the crew neck because,
hey, you’ve got that Chewbacca thing going on.
Guys, I’m not telling you got to go shave, you got to go manscape or anything like that,
but I am saying that, okay, you don’t necessarily want hair shooting out of here and all of
a sudden becoming a distraction, so pay attention to that.
If you’ve got that issue definitely I’d love to hear from you guys down in the comments,
how some of you guys are solving that.
But for me, I wear the undershirt to protect my shirts, I don’t have to wash them as
often and they don’t get stains or anything in the pits.
But I also when I’m choosing an undershirt, I always go for the V neck.
Item number four to pay attention too, gentlemen, the pocket square.
Always rock a pocket square when you’re wearing a suit without a necktie.
You don’t have that collar, you don’t have that item bring in everything together
right here, but you still want to bring in some color especially red, maybe some pink,
maybe something that compliments the outfit you’re wearing.
This pocket square works with this look right here because it’s got this little bit of
blue in here, it’s also got purple, it’s got a pink, it’s got a red, it’s got a
white.
Overall, this is a beautiful pocket square that I picked up over a decade ago and I love
how it just works with so many different items out there.
I love paisley pocket squares.
I love pocket squares that actually have different, you know, scenes in them.
This pocket square right here, doesn’t that gold look great?
And it works with the outfit.
I can fold it in a variety of ways.
And, guys, I’m going to link to a support article down in the description of this video
and over there, I’m going to link you over to all these different ways these infographics
on different ways to fold a pocket square if you need that information.
Item number five.
Let’s talk about shoes.
So, when you’re wearing a casual suit, you want to have fun with the shoes especially
when you’re not wearing that necktie.
Again, because we don’t have the necktie as the center point, we can start to draw
people’s attention down to the footwear and people always look at the shoes, so you
might as well have fun with it.
[0:10:01] Now, if you want to go with something classic
conservative, you don’t want to change things up too much, you can start to go with the
clothes lacing system and all of a sudden you go, you know, this right here very classic
very formal, but it’s the contrasting leather slight contrast here which all of a sudden
sends the signal there’s something unique about those there’s something very dressy
something very attractive.
If you want to have a little bit more fun, all of a sudden you go with an open lacing
system which is going to be less formal more casual.
We have brogue right in here which a brogue design is basically where they have perforations
in the leather.
This is more casual.
We’ve got this contrast, we’ve got a blue suede right here mixed with the dark rich
brown leather all of sudden, this beautiful pair of shoes right here.
Or you can even have fun with a different design, so something like here.
We’ve got a double monk boot.
And, if you look at something I mean it’s just beautiful.
This is where you could have fun.
You can really let you footwear shine when you’re wearing a suit without a necktie.
All right, gents, so that’s how you wear a suit without a necktie and you look great
doing it.
Now, I didn’t talk about watches, I didn’t talk about cufflinks, I didn’t talk about
lapel pins, I didn’t talk about boutonnieres and how you can work those into this type
of outfit and still look great.
When it comes down to it, I think when you go without the necktie, it just allows you
to bring forth and really accentuate and have fun with some of the other items that you’re
trying to pull off.
But remember those two guidelines; pay attention to dress codes and make sure it looks like
you did this on purpose you didn’t just forget your necktie.
These rules are just the starting points that are going to get you going.
So, I want to hear from you guys down in the comments how you pull off this look what some
of your favorite looks are maybe some of the colors of your suits maybe what you put together
as your combinations because I love learning from you.
You guys know so much and I really appreciated the community we build here at Real Men Real
Style.
If you want to interact with me and some of the other guys because I know this was a question
over in my free Facebook group.
I’m linking to it down in the description.
I’m also linking to my website, Real Men Real Style where you got a podcast.
Yes, we’ve got a podcast with almost a hundred episodes.
We’ve got a free app.
We’ve got over a hundred infographics.
I’ve got over two thousand articles.
And I’ve got a premium course which you can go through.
This is the only course you will ever have to take on men’s style and you will have
a great solid foundation.
So, if you’re looking for any of that, go check it out at my website which I’m linking
to down in the description.
That’s it guys.
Take care.
I’ll see you in the next video.
Bye.
[0:12:21] End of Audio