Today I had to put on something presentable to go to lunch with my wife for Valentines. Having already left the path with my Christmas bling double tie outfit, I decided to try a few variations. I claim growing up as an 80's child gives me the right to layer and or unlayer, as the case may be. So, my Christmas event suit combo (previous in this thread) was unique in its use of two ties but not tied. They were draped around the neck and showing just enough to proof as a double edged vest with the coat buttoned. Today, I wandered a bit farther from the path and I am loving these tweaks. I have 4 new versions. Not new to the world, I am sure. Likely done before, minus the odd use of the ties. I do swear, I have never seen ties used these ways before.
First is the standard I call "Untucked". A little style and a little casual daily mixed together. Not a big reach here as this is not my tweaks but a combo of 2020's Adam Ant and Keanu's casual.
Then I added a tie in but again used it untied. This time, not under the coat as a vest but over the collar, the actual outside of the collar, and then under the vest....so ya, a real vest as well. Some of these have the tie clips very low and some are high but I decided that I wouldn't mind having them both low and high if I really needed bling presence. With coat and/or vest buttoned with one or more draped ties, I call this "Untied". Note how you get to see the tie pattern all the way around the collar, not hiding under the shirt.
It became quickly apparent that the "Untie" would need to contrast in order to differentiate from the vest and coat, so the red came in.
The third version, I did not get pictures of. The idea would be to follow all normal rules of suit ensemble but add one or more "Unties" to act as either a vest or as in version 2 while ALSO wearing a standard central tie in the original manner. This would allow the look of a vest but in any tie pattern you find.
The fourth version is likely my favorite. I love quality clothing worn casually. This version is "Untucked, Unbuttoned, and Untied". The tie clips come in very handy here to keep the lines and edges in play without going fully sloppy. The undershirt is a must in this one. I used black under white for max contrast. Shirt, vest and coat are unbuttoned, overshirt is untucked but undershirt is tucked (so I can reach up without belly reveal). Tie is draped and pinned to the vest (not the coat this time but two ties, one for each, would be cool too).
So the max amount of ties would be one central normal tie, one draped under the vest and one draped like a vest, under the coat. Any of those could be doubles as well. I will have to try it just for kicks. That last picture with the black tie used in the "Untucked, Unbuttoned, Untied" is my favorite of all but only presents well up close. At a distance, only a contrasting tie would be seen without melding with the vest or coat.
