Use the Unrelated

An appearance of carelessness adds to the quality of a man's dress, which is never supposed to look as though he has spent time thinking about how the elements work together. Taken to an extreme, that can lead to the mis-buttoned jacket a la Luca di Montezemolo, but there are simpler techniques. For example, when the occasion is appropriate for color in the jacket pocket the simplest technique of all is a square that complements the rest of the day's clothing without repeating any of its colors.

In the photo, the combination of navy suit, gray on white striped shirt, and navy Churchill spot necktie could have been finished with a white linen handkerchief in the jacket pocket. That would have been safe, but very dull. The entire ensemble is more interesting, and certainly more careless looking, with Drake's unicorn print square in an olive colorway that relates to nothing else in either color or texture.

Use the unrelated.