A TUTORIAL FOR  FOR GROOMS, GROOMSMEN, AND WEDDING ATTENDEES

POCKET SQUARE BASICS

Whether you’re a bride to be, a groom who wants to show off his style on his wedding day or someone who is attending a wedding this year, you can benefit from these simple pocket square tips. How do I choose the right fabric? How do I wear it once I’ve found one I like? In this post, we help you choose the right style and pattern so you can rock a unique look for any occasion.

We recently shot a family session where our clients hubby showed up dressed to perfection. There was just one thing missing from his rockstar outfit… Yep! You guessed it, a pocket square. It was a little detail that would have polished off the rest of his outfit. We love photographing details so anytime our clients go the extra mile with their outfit choices we love to feature those in our blog posts and future tutorials. We feel that educating our groom AND our brides on men’s style is important when it comes to wedding attire. Well, friends, this is the first post in our series on Groom style.

When John and I first got together it was instantly apparent that he had amazing style. I didn’t know how he did it but I know that he looked fantastic. His pants were at the right length, his jacket fit perfect and he had one little extra piece that really set him apart, his pocket square! They always seemed to have a unique fold based on the event we were attending and the fabric made a difference too. I think a lot of men want to wear pocket squares and ladies, we want our men to wear one, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to share a few tips with our brides and grooms.

1. NOT ALL FABRIC IS CREATED EQUAL

There are many opinions on this subject and I guess it could be put in the same category as “Is it ok to wear white after Labor Day” topic. I asked John why he prefers to always wear the linen or cotton ones and his answer was simple. They go with anything! Some might argue that cotton is a less formal approach, but there are a TON of choices when it comes to fabric. Satin would be on his black list, it’s dated, too shiny and doesn’t maintain its shape. Silk would be a great option for grooms for the formal factor, but like satin fabric, it’s slippery and won’t maintain the shape very well. TIP: stuff a piece of tissue in with your silk pocket square to help keep it in place.

2. MATCHING IS NOT THE WAY TO GO

So now that you have a good grasp on fabric choices, lets not forget to mention the so-called “kits” you can buy. You find yourself roaming around the department store and see an adorable tie and right next to it in the same box is a matching pocket square. DON’T DO it! Go the extra mile and find one that will compliment it not match it. This is easy for the ladies to do as we already do this with our outfits daily. If you are attending a wedding together find one that will compliment your outfit. I can’t tell you how many comments we get together on a wedding day because we “complement” one another in our outfit choices. One note on matching the groomsmen, that IS ok to do. Make sure you and your guys have the same fold. Your images will definitely thank you for having a cohesive look.

 3. PATTERNS MATTER

Patterns ROCK! This is where you can show off a bit of your personality but there are a few rules that you need to keep in mind. Scale and size of the pattern cannot match exactly. Similar patterns can match. For example, plaid on plaid, dots on dots but they just cannot be the same size. For a more in-depth look on this topic check out Johns Post HERE.

4.  LOTS OF FOLD CHOICES

Now this is where is gets fun! Experiment with different folds. You can keep it simple or make it fun. We have another amazing post that John did on his 5 favorite folds. You can check that out HERE

5. POCKET SQUARES ARE NOT JUST FOR GROWN-UPS

We recently photographed our own family session this year and I knew that I wanted the boys to wear jackets with pocket squares. When I send out my style guides to my clients I always give them a few options for boys. Mamas of girls have it so easy!  There are so many adorable choices out there. We just have to work a bit harder. Plus, how could I do this post without throwing in a few images of Cash! I absolutely adore this little man all dressed up being one sophisticated 5 year-old. He definitely showed his true boy side when in less than 5 minutes he got grass stains all over his jeans.  But that’s ok, I think it adds a bit of charm to his photos. I picked up these blazers (with the pocket square sewn in) at H & M for $25 each.

I hope this post was helpful.  If nothing else, just rest assured that John and I are aware of things like this and we have your back on the wedding day. Check out these sets of Pocket squares with some really neat patterns.

Check out these adorable options.