By Titus Serunjogi

THE tie says more about men than they think. A decade ago, whoever wore a tie ended up looking like a stressed accountant. Ties were only worn within corporate settings, but not anymore.

With the dynamic nature of fashion, ties have shed the formal dark colours that were often worn to office. And now more men are going in for ties with daring, bright colours like shimmering blue, red and even yellow.

The 1980s’ style of narrow or skinny ties are flipping into vogue again. The return of the skinny tie, however, is only the beginning of a growing trend in the casual wearing of ties.

“It is cool to wear ties with a large knot with the top button undone,” says Latif Kasumba, an accessories designer who featured at the Uganda International Fashion Week 2005.

Although it may not be suitable for your office meetings, the casual relaxed style of wearing ties has started appearing more often.

So what styles and colours should you be looking for if you want to join this new tie trend?

If you still have a pile of old ties gathering dust at the bottom of your cupboard, you may want to fish them out. You never know – they may be back in fashion!
But the large ties with bold leaf or flower patterns are flipping out of vogue.
Solid-coloured shimmering ties are better. Blue, red and green attract a lot of attention. Stripes are still a strong favourite.

There is also a trend of wearing a short, fat tie that hangs just below the neck. It goes well for anyone who is just strolling about on the street.

When choosing a tie, go for a long thin one with a solid bright colour or one with miniature bright patterns on a darker background.

Don’t wear a bright tie on an equally bright shirt or pair of trousers.
Samaki, a local design house, makes exclusive ties with blue chequered patterns on a silver background.
“It can match well with anything; be it office wear, evening or casual wear,” says Herbert Musisi, co-founder of Samaki.

Musisi tells men to avoid wearing striped ties on striped shirts or suits.
Even wearing a tie over flowered shirts only makes one end up looking like a Christmas tree. So, always complement your tie with a nice shirt, for example a shirt with tiny, almost imperceptible squares. But plain shirts bring out a tie’s beauty best.

Ties don’t need to be washed. Once in a while, collect your ties and take them for dry-cleaning.

These days, fashionable corporate men with a good dress sense go for designer ties from uptown boutiques. But there are also cheaper and equally classy ones.

A good tie may cost sh7,000 on the street, but it will cost over sh70,000 at an uptown boutique. Whichever you choose a good tie will always distinguish a trendy man.