FASHION A TOUCH OF CLASS

The importance of men’s pocket squares



The right hankie can turn Wally Cox into Cary Grant.

All it takes is a white handkerchief, and it’s a simple and cheap way to buy some style According to menswear expert Alan Flusser in Clothes and the Man, the best white handkerchiefs are made of linen with hand-rolled edges. They’re difficult to find today, but they’re worth it because they’re the only handkerchiefs that really stand up all day.

The first Renaissance man knew the importance of a strategically placed handkerchief. Wrote Erasmus: “To wipe your nose on your sleeve is boorish.’’ By the turn of this century, however, hankies weren’t just for noses. Flusser reports that handkerchiefs made of silk, linen, or cotton were de rigueur for the left breast pocket of a gentleman’s suit jacket-where they generally stayed.

Today, the pocket square should complement the tie but never match it in pattern or color. Silk handkerchiefs are recommended in patterns such as paisley and foulard. Linen pocket squares look best with silk ties, while silk pocket squares add the right textural balance to wool or cotton ties. And to add that continental flair, stick to the four basic folds: square-ended, puffed, multi-pointed, and the tried-and-true triangle fold.