Some examples of matching two different patterns are check suits and stripe ties or dress shirts, stripe dress shirts and polka-dot ties, as well as plaid suits and foulard ties.

The focus when doing such combination is to understand which one is the first pattern and which is the second.

Naturally, the first pattern is usually the one that takes up most of your body and the second should be the one creating the accent.

Avoid having the second pattern overwhelming the first. And also maintain good color coordination between the second pattern against the first pattern.

When in doubt, it is safe to have colors of the same hue or similar hue from both patterns.

The art of achieving a soothing effect matching two different patterns involves getting the scales of the two patterns as close as possible and this applies mainly to those with bigger and medium-sized scaled patterns.

This is to prevent having one pattern overwhelming the other especially the one with the more complicated or smaller scaled design.

When this chalk stripe suit is placed with the two types of ties we notice that the small geometric patterned pink tie overwhelms the suit more than the other Raffaello hand-made wide spaced square patterned tie.

The impact that the square patterned tie makes is more soothing and in-balance because the scale of the pattern on the tie against the stripes on the suit are closely matched.

The blending color of dark blue and gray creates a nice flow between the two apparels.

Instead the Zegna tie placed on the suit has a lesser blend as well as taking the focus away from the suit.

We would want to remember that the tie is an accent and should avoid taking too much attention from the suit.

I would not say that it is not a nice play of contrast for this way of matching two different patterns, rather it would take men with a great savvy attitude and character to carry this dressing style well.

So for men who are not sure what to wear, choosing a bigger scale pattern would always be a safer choice.

This tattersall check dress shirt and this polka dot tie is another good example on matching two different patterns.

Even though the polka dot is small but the spacing between the dots and the tattersall size are well-matched. Then the pink polka dots reflected against the pink dress shirt gives it an even smarter combination.

But when the first pattern involves a small pattern, matching two different patterns needs another perspective of things. As explained before, smaller patterns are more intense and can capture more significant attention.

Imagine two small patterns put together? It will be a very intense and vibrating transition between the patterns that might not be too pleasing to the viewers.

To avoid such a discord between the patterns, choosing a wider second pattern over a smaller first pattern can definitely relief the intensity emitted by the small pattern.

This Zegna Houndstooth Suit is a prime example of how three different types of stripe ties placed against it will look. The first example is a closely scaled stripe tie with a nice shade of brown stripe that matches against the suit nicely.

It is this repetition of color on the stripe tie against the houndstooth suit that is relieving the tension between the two patterns.

Too closely matched in their scales are creating a very uncomfortable vibration to the viewers’ eyes.

Instead the other two would not create such problems for the viewer. The second pattern though has a similarly scaled stripe tie but it is the wide spacing between the stripes that counteracts against the houndstooth.

The third stripe tie has big and wide scaled stripes and offers an even nicer counter-balancing from the small patterned.

Further enhancing the excellent style in the two stripe ties combination is the use of similar hues like gold and brown to match the light brown color of the suit.

To further illustrate the concept on matching two different patterns, let us look at the Prada stripe dress shirt which is going to be matched by two differently sized Burberry polka dot ties.

The small scaled stripes on the shirt and the small dotted tie created too much discord for great appreciation.

The bigger polka-dots did not create this problem but instead gave it smooth transition on the small stripes on the suits.

The only down side I feel would be the color of the tie. If it dark blue instead of black, the overall look will definitely be enhanced to another level of sophistication.

Mixing Two Similar Patterns

Mixing Three Different Patterns

Matching Three Patterns Where Two Are Similar

Coordinating Three Similar Patterns

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