Give Your Neckties A Friend: Tips On Wearing Pocket Sqaures

It is been called a fading tradition many times in the last couple of decades but pocket squares have been finding their way back into many hearts and breast pockets of late. As the metrosexual emerged as the masculine phenomenon of the 21st century, that same group of people has been letting go of present norms and embracing fashion statements from eras past.

Despite their ubiquity from the 19th century all the way into the early decades of the 20th, pocket squares began to die out as men all over the world adopted a looser, less formal aesthetic. Consequently, a majority of men nowadays are too shy or inept to wear pocket squares because the item is too novel for the 21st century perspective. Here is a quick guide to this classic and ever stylish blast from the past.

Choosing Pocket Squares
The name will tell you just about everything you need to know: pocket squares are essentially squares of fabric that you fold into a shape and then tuck into the breast pocket of your blazer or suit jacket. It might seem like a very, very minor addition but a well-installed pocket square can add a little extra dash of formal glamour to just about every outfit.

Pocket squares vary very little in size, in squares of fabric measuring from 16 to 18 inches a side. But it is the colors and materials, however, and not the size that will set a square apart. For what little surface it will show, every pocket square will accurately reflect the materials and workmanship that went into making it.

Although cotton and silk blends are two of the most popular and easiest to find pocket square materials around, you cant get much better than a pure silk or cashmere square. Silk is soft and yielding when you manipulate it, yet retains a good amount of poof once you have set it into your pocket. Meanwhile, cashmere has better software and texture than most products I have seen today.

Pocket Square, Sil Vous Plez
Every man should own at least one white pocket square, so go out and get one if you dont already have one. It is the most versatile style there is because you can wear it to a club on a Friday night, and then wear the same ensemble to, say, work or do an out-of office job.

Pocket squares are also useful for covering up, say, an old or worn-out jacket. Because the white or any other light color provides a very stark contrast to the brown, black or navy of your sport coat, it diverts the viewer's attention from the imperfections of your jacket to the stylish square of cloth in your pocket. It is one of the best quick fashion fixes you could have in your closet.

The usual formal pocket square is a small triangle (or two small ones) that peek out just over the top of the seam of the pocket. If you do not know how to fold it that way though, the more modern and convenient alternative is to just fold it into a square and then leave about an inch of it visible. Wear it with a decent shirt, your favorite jacket and a debonair attitude.