Wool & Tweed Ties (Ties & Pocket Squares)

Wool ties are woven cloth, cut and sewn the same way a silk tie is, pointed at the bottom and lined inside. The yarn does every bit of the work that makes them different. Wool fibers stand up from the surface and scatter light rather than reflecting it, so the tie looks matte and slightly hairy. Tweed pushes that further, being a coarse woolen cloth with two or three colors twisted into the yarn before weaving, which is where the flecks come from.

Bulk changes how the tie behaves everywhere. Wool cloth is springier and thicker than silk. So an identical 3 inch width builds a noticeably fatter knot, and many of these carry only a light interlining, the padding sewn between the face and the back, or none at all. At the collar that bulk pays off, since a fat knot stays plump through the day and does not creep loose. Lower down it costs you. Wool takes a crease and holds onto it where silk recovers overnight, and it stands away from the chest instead of falling down it.

Knitted ties are sometimes wool as well and still behave nothing like these, being knitted rather than woven, stretchy, square ended and much slimmer through the knot. Beside a silk necktie the contrast is about surface, and the usable rule is that matte belongs with matte. On hard finish worsted, the smooth tightly woven cloth most business suits are made from, a wool tie looks like it arrived from a different outfit. Skinny widths waste the cloth outright, because flecks and checks need around 3 inches of surface before anyone reads them from across a room.

Tweed and corduroy jackets, flannel suits, thick knitwear and cold months are the natural home, along with anyone whose jacket is a choice rather than a rule. Warm climates rule them out, since wool traps heat at the throat, one of the places you shed it fastest. Black tie and strict business dress want silk instead.

Turn the tie over to see whether the pattern is woven or printed. A woven fleck shows through on the reverse of the cloth, while a print leaves the back flat and pale. Rub the face firmly with a palm, and if loose fibers come away it will pill within a few wearings. Brush it down after each outing with a soft clothes brush, roll or hang it, and leave a day between wears so the fibers spring back. Moths eat wool and ignore silk, so these need a sealed box or cedar rather than an open rack.