Pocket Squares

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Apocket square is the finishing touch to a great outfit. There are so many ways to fold a pocket square and the way you go about folding yours is really a personal preference. There are no rules when it comes to selecting a fold. However, most men choose among three pocket square folds: The straight fold (which is modern and cool), the puff fold (classic and a bit dressier) or a variation of a peak fold (a little more complicated and formal).

Wear a pocket square casually by choosing a fabric like cotton or linen (with or without a necktie). For more formal outfits, match your pocket square to your tie or select a pocket square color that contrasts with your necktie. (However, a black or white pocket square is the standard for black tie attire.)

TieMart brand pocket squares come in several sizes for all your folding needs. Styles include classic solid colors and popular designs like plaid, florals, paisley, stripes and more. Our pocket squares are affordable so you can purchase a combination of colors and patterns for every suit. No time to shop? Pick up one of our popular variety packs instead.

Whether you are a pocket square aficionado or just a dabbler in menswear trends, navigating the etiquette of this accessory can, admittedly, be a bit of a sartorial minefield so we've set out our complete guide on pocket squares.

4. If you are wearing a silk pocket square make sure it is at least 40cm x 40cm (16 inches). Anything smaller, with such fine material, is likely to slip down into your pocket. Read more about pocket square construction.

5. Match your fold to the occasion. For formal occasions stick to the flat fold or one or two-point folds, for more casual occasions use some more flare with the classic puff fold or one of the more flamboyant folds as set out below.

6. The +2 Rule: One thing that we would strongly advocate with your pocket square is what we call the +2 Rule. If you think of a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the most conservative and 10 being the most flamboyant, then for your colours or fold you should go for something that is +2 above what you would normally choose for yourself. More on the +2 rule.

7. How Much Pocket Square Should You Display? In our video below Fashion Consultant Chris Modoo outlines some general rules when thinking about how much pocket square to display. Always keep in mind the amount of your pocket square that you choose to display is a matter of personal preference and can vary depending on the occasion and your personal style. Ultimately, the most important thing is to wear the pocket square in a way that makes you feel comfortable and confident.

A pocket square is usually made from finer fabrics such as silk or wool, so is mainly used for fashion and visual appeal, having no practical purpose besides making you look smart and stylish. You can of course choose to use your pocket square to wipe your brow if needed, but your square will require washing after every use.

The handkerchief, however, is usually made from standard cotton and is meant for more practical uses such as wiping sweat or blowing your nose. A good rule of thumb to follow is this simple rhyme; one for blow, one for show.

The size of a silk pocket square has a surprisingly large impact on the fold and pocket square styles that you can achieve, and therefore how it looks in your jacket or suit pocket. A silk square is lightweight by its very nature and therefore anything less than 40cm (16 inches) will tend to slip down inside your pocket. So as you are moving around during the day or evening, you will need to keep retrieving from within your pocket.

Therefore avoid squares less than 40cm and invest in a square that's between 40cm and 45cm. This rule of thumb doesn't apply to linen or wool based squares as they're more structural fabrics, in which case, a 33cm x 33cm square works perfectly.

We use the finest mulberry silk and the quality of the fabric can be seen in the texture and the level of detail and vibrancy of the finished product. This gives our products the beautiful soft feel that people associate with high-quality silk products while allowing the design to bleed through evenly on both sides.

We take the utmost care in printing our pocket squares, which results in truly remarkable levels of detail. Faces, objects and colours are sharp and well-defined to give a truly stunning finish. We also take exceptional care with the colour bleed, so the print is almost as crisp on the back as on the front, allowing for unlimited folds.

In contrast, cheaper pocket squares in the market are generally printed on inexpensive silk or a mixed cotton fibre content base. Additionally, the printing is often not crisp and the colour generally doesn't bleed through to the opposite side for the premium appeal, limiting how you can fold it in your pocket, and giving you fewer styling ways to wear it.

The hand-rolled edges are the final key difference between luxury pocket squares and cheaper versions. We feel that the precision and care our skilled artisans take, gives each square its unique character, finish and feel.

To create the finest rolled hems, the edge of the silk must be softy turned over with a handheld needle and then small stitches are inserted approximately one-half to one centimetre apart around the edge, creating a supple yet prominent border. This plump border helps give the square structure and makes it possible to do pointed folds.

One of the most popular fabrics for pocket squares is silk. Silk has the properties of not only feeling very luxurious but is also the perfect material for luminous colours as the light hits it from different angles you can get different pops of colour, which adds real interest to an outfit. Also well known for being a fine fabric which means you can achieve several intricate silk pocket square folds.

However, the main reason we use silk for the majority of our pocket squares is the incredible detail that can be achieved when working with quality fabric. Silk provides the perfect canvas for both a sharp and vibrancy image. You can see an example of this here, with our Pollice Verso Pocket Square.

Our Abduction of Ganymede pocket square is a good example of the vibrancy that working with silk provides. The yellows and golds contrast brilliantly against the darker colours in the piece. This allows for several different looks depending on how the pocket square is folded.

One of the most underrated fabrics for pocket squares is a mix of silk and wool. It takes the best of both worlds, the luxurious feel of the silk, and the texture of the wool, to create a beautiful, lightweight fabric. The result is not as bright as silk and therefore more adapted to some situations, but it has a unique texture which pairs very well with silk ties. The presence of both materials makes it very light.

The wool tends to make it wrinkle-resistant and therefore allows it to drape beautifully while looking great with all different kinds of folds. The silk brings a small shine to it and enhances the details. The most common blend is 70% wool and 30% silk. While 100% wool pocket squares are more adapted to winter and autumn, a mix of wool and silk works all year round.

Compared to other fabrics, this blend pairs particularly well with all suit fabrics. You can either wear a wool and mohair fabric or a heavier fabric like Tweed or Herringbone. It is therefore very versatile, and a strong addition to a collection.

On a pocket square like La Gourmandise (far left), we chose wool/silk for the fabric as it gives a perfect result - the texture is highly visible on the lighter parts of the painting, while the silk helps the blue and yellow to shine. The outcome is a pocket square which can be paired with both dark and lighter suits and blazers. While 'Spark' (far right) has both the vibrancy of silk and the lightweight texture of the wool to make it a perfect summer square.

Linen is one of the oldest fabrics in the world, and it is completely made of natural materials. It is very resistant to wear and tear, yet very light. As a result, linen pocket squares are often associated with summer, where lighter fabrics are worn.

They are less shiny than silk and can be worn with a contrasting fabric like a tuxedo for a black-tie event, but a double-breasted linen jacket will also pair very well with a linen pocket square. The only downside of linen is that it requires ironing quite often, as it wrinkles very easily.

Cotton pocket squares tend to be the most affordable since cotton is not an expensive material, however, they do not have the same panache or vitality of higher quality fabrics like silk or wool/silk. Cotton tends to be used for handkerchiefs and is not considered a luxurious fabric.

Today, madder silk is still produced in small quantities by artisans and textile enthusiasts, who value its rich colour and cultural significance. While the natural madder root produced primarily red dyes, the modern dyeing process for madder can produce a wide array of rich, saturated hues. Most of these colours are on the darker end of the spectrum; for example colours like mustard, forest green, burnt orange, deep blue and violet, and of course, gold, navy and burgundy.

If you have a solid solid-coloured shirt (particularly white or sky blue) and a classic suit colour such as navy, then you are free to experiment with bolder colours and patterns with your tie, and you can provide strong contrast should you wish.

Our collection of the finest silk pocket squares includes a rich array of colours that can be easily paired with your tie of choice. The idea here is to find the largest negative colour space within your pocket square for example cream or grey if the pocket square featured clouds & sky, and then match it back to your tie colour of choice. This colour link between your tie and pocket square will pull your outfit nicely together.

One question we often get asked is whether you should be matching your tie and pocket square. The short answer is no. Although it might seem like an easy way to coordinate your outfit, matching your pocket square and tie or bow tie is a definite no-no if you want to consider yourself a well-dressed man.

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