A touch of class: the subtle cool of the silver tie clip

Is there anything that shouts cool sophistication more than a silver tie clip? It’s not flashy, it’s not in your face, but there’s something effortlessly classy about it. Don’t believe us? Let’s name a few people that have been spotted wearing tie clips: Ryan Reynolds, David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio. Now, let’s look at somebody who famously eschewed wearing a tie clip of any kind: Donald Trump. See what we mean? And man, how times have changed. Ten, fifteen years ago, wearing a silver tie clip was something that was saved only for your grandad. It was a relic of a by-gone era, where dressing informally meant taking off your tie and opening your top button. And then, along comes Mad Men and reminds the world that dressing well is cool. Soon, the pages of GQ and the streets of London are lined with people taking pride in looking sharp, and the silver tie clip makes a huge comeback. And we couldn’t be happier. We love the silver tie clip here at FT. It’s a humble accessory, not drawing attention to itself but adding a huge touch of class to your outfit. (That’s why we stock them in our store.) But there are some rules to wearing one:

Silver tie bars > tie pins

Tie pins look cool. We’ll give them that. They add a nice dimple in the tie and look real classy. But they also poke a whacking great hole in your nice tie. The tie pin adds the same level of sophistication, without any of the rippage.

Keep it simple

You’re going to want to avoid huge diamantes or tonnes of P-Diddy circa 2004 bling. The silver tie clip is understated and cool, don’t undermine that by throwing gaudy bling everywhere.

Placement: between the third and fourth buttons

Any higher, you look a wally. Any lower, you can’t see it when the jacket is done up.

It’s all about the tie to tie-clip ratio

A silver tie clip should take up approximately half to three-quarters of your tie. Any more than that and it looks incredibly silly. This is a hard rule (unless you want to look like a plonker. If so, go full-width, you crazy diamond.)