Whether it is a gift for Father’s day, a birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah or any other religious celebration, choosing a tie for your father or husband can be tricky especially if you are not used to buying ties. Do not worry though as Vulpilist comes to give you tie gift ideas and help you choose the right gift for your loved ones!
Before giving you tips and tricks, we encourage you to check Vulpilist.com, our marketplace specialized in classic men’s style where you will find a very wide choice of curated, highly qualitative garments and accessories – there are of course very distinctive ties, most of them made by hand in Italy, France or United Kingdom. You will hence make sure to make your husband or father happy by offering a tasteful and lasting tie at a bargain price for the quality!
1. Check the tie width
There is a rule of thumb in classic menswear: the tie width must match the width of the jacket lapel of your suit. Otherwise you end up with a skinny tie and wide lapels…or the other way round. You get the point: it will not look good!
That is why the first advise we want to give you is to check your father or husband wardrobe, measure the width of the lapel of his suits and jackets and write this down. A 8 cm lapel width would call for a 8 cm wide tie, although it will still look good with a slight gap (7.5 to 8.5 cm would be alright, but 9 cm begins to be too wide).
Today, main street suits lapel width are quite short (around 6-7 cm) but most traditionnal brands are more around 8-9 cm.
2. Choose a pattern and a color
The pattern will determine the overall look of the tie and what it reflects: is it a casual tie? A dressed up one?
First, ask yourself what your husband or father generally wears and when. Does he only wear ties at the office? Does he wear ties everyday, even when not working?
If wearing ties is an obligation for him, chances are his workplace does not really allow casual, fancy ties. In this case we would recommend the obvious plain tie but also floral, geometric, polka, club (striped) and paisley patterns – all on a small to medium scale and with muted colors as you would want it to be quite discreet.
Here are a few examples that would work very well with a business suit while remaining discreet:
Floral tie 
Geometric tie 
Floral and geometric tie 
Polka dots tie 
Paisley tie 
Club tie
If your husband is more of the everyday wearing tie type then you can choose a wider range of ties. The discreet ones mentionned earlier will work very well with a suit but also with more casual outfits such as blazers.
If we wears tweed or heavy wool casual jackets, then you can go for bolder patterns such as animals and fancy printings (air balloons, teddy bears and so on). You can also go for more vivd colors!
Also, bear in mind that wool or linen ties are more casual as they generally look rougher than their silk counterpart. Also they are dedicated to certain types of weather – wool is for Winter and linen for Summer.
Here are some examples:
Club tie 
Houndstooth tweed wool tie 
Paisley tie 
Fancy printed tie 
Polka dots tie
3. Go for quality
Going for quality does not mean to go for the most expensive tie!
Instead of giving you an endless list of recommended makers (and those to avoid, except the obvious ones such as main street stores – H&M, Zara…) we prefer to give you advice about how to recognize quality ties.
Avoid synthetic fabrics. Polyester tends to be shiny and is often synonym of very low quality ties. Go for noble fabrics – silk, wool, linen.
If you shop in stores you will have the chance to feel the tie. The fabric should be nor too thin (it will not survive long) nor too thick (knotting the tie will prove quite difficult). You should also check the inner lining which should not be too thick and made of natural materials (avoid thick polyester lining) – the boutique staffs should be able to tell you how the tie is made.
Check on the label where the tie has been made. Those made in France, Italy or UK are very qualitative 95% of the time as Europe focuses on producing high quality as the cost of labor is expensive, whereas Asia tends to produce much lower quality.
Here are some examples of the labels you should look for:
It is now time to practice!
Let us meet on Vulpilist.com where you will find hundreds of ties.
We already selected the most qualitative ones so you just have to focus on pattern and tie width. Chances are the right one for your father or husband is already listed on Vulpilist!
Do you still need some advice to choose the perfect gift, be it a tie, pocket square or even a jacket or a suit? We will be glad to assist – write us!
