The best Italian silk tie on sale right now is the Jil Sander silk pin-dot tie in black, made in Italy, at $132.56, down from $441.88. That is 70% off a tie most men will wear for twenty years. The Brioni silk jacquard tie in navy is the more useful tie of the two, at $215.45 from $323.18, and the right choice if you wear a suit more than once a week.
Both are 100% silk and made in Italy. The question is which one your wardrobe needs first.
Why an Italian tie is worth buying on markdown
A tie is the cheapest way into a great Italian house. A Brioni suit costs thousands even at 60% off. A Brioni tie costs a few hundred at full price and less on sale, and it carries the same eye for color and pattern.
What you pay for in a good silk tie: a heavy silk that knots cleanly and holds a dimple, an interlining that lets the tie drape instead of twisting, and a pattern woven into the cloth rather than printed on top. A woven tie keeps its color at the edges for years. A cheap printed tie fades and fuzzes where the knot rubs.
The markdown matters because ties are where luxury retail pricing is least connected to cost. A $440 tie is not twice the tie a $220 one is. At $132.56, the Jil Sander is priced like a good department store tie and made like an Italian one.
Brioni navy jacquard: the one you will wear most
Jacquard means the pattern is woven into the silk on the loom. On the Brioni tie the pattern is tonal, navy on navy, so it reads as a solid from across a room and as texture up close. It has a matte, slightly dry surface that looks right in daylight and under office lights alike.
Navy is the most versatile tie color there is. It goes with a navy suit, a charcoal suit, a gray suit and a brown tweed jacket. It goes with a white shirt, a pale blue shirt and a blue stripe. It even goes over a cashmere cardigan at a client lunch, which is how it appears in the client lunch guide.
At $215.45, 33% off, it is not the deeper discount. It is the tie a man who wears a suit four days a week reaches for three of them. If you own no good ties yet, start here.
Jil Sander black pin-dot: the sharper buy
A small white dot on black silk is one of the oldest patterns in menswear, and one of the hardest to get wrong. From a distance it reads as a solid dark tie. Across a table, the dots give it life.
Jil Sander is a German name with Italian production, and the house leans spare and modern. This tie is no exception: clean, graphic, no flourish. That makes it the better tie for evening, for a black or charcoal suit, and for a white shirt with a spread collar.
Black ties have a narrower range than navy. They look best with charcoal, black and midnight blue, and with white or very pale blue shirts. With brown tailoring or a busy shirt, they fight. Wear it to a dinner, a wedding in the evening, a board meeting, or any day you want the outfit to look decisive.
At 70% off, it is the best tie price in the deals. Buy it even if you already own a navy tie.
Pairing with a shirt, a square and a jacket
The shirt. Brioni's cotton shirt in navy is $504.64, down from $1,501.24. A navy shirt changes the tie rules: the tie must be lighter or have more contrast, so the black pin-dot works and the navy jacquard sinks into it. For both ties, a white or pale blue poplin shirt is the safer base. A navy shirt with a black pin-dot tie and a charcoal suit is a strong evening outfit.
The pocket square. The Tom Ford cotton gauze pocket square in green is $94.90 from $412.62, 77% off, made in Italy with a contrast piped edge. A pocket square should never match the tie. Green next to navy or black is a quiet contrast that looks chosen rather than coordinated. Fold it flat with a quarter inch showing, or puff it loosely. The navy tie, green square, gray suit and black cap toes are the office look.
The jacket. Over the navy tie, the Brioni desert jacket in navy, $1,732.28 from $4,441.74, works for a Friday with a white shirt and gray flannel trousers. Navy on navy, with the tie a shade darker than the jacket, is the classic Roman approach.
How to tie it and how long to wear it
Use a four-in-hand for both ties. It is a slightly asymmetric knot that suits a medium spread or point collar, and it lets a heavy silk show its body. Pinch a dimple just below the knot as you pull it tight. A Windsor makes good silk look stiff.
The tip of the blade should land at the top of the belt buckle, not above the waistband and not below the buckle. If the tail is longer than the blade, start again with the wide end lower. Untie the tie fully at the end of the day, never slide it off as a loop, and hang it or roll it so the silk recovers.
Handled this way, a good silk tie looks the same in ten years as it does on the first day. More of the Italian pieces at these markdowns are on the Italia page, and for which Italian houses earn full price at all, read Italian menswear brands worth the money.
The pieces
The best markdowns, before they sell out.