There are articles about what the colour tie you wear says about you. There are articles that fine tune exactly the shade of tie you should be wearing with every shirt colour under the sun. The old rules around ties are as extensive as they are absurd. But the latest trend in the tie world? Going monochrome. The simplest matching formula to the best tie-and-shirt look has been hiding in plain sight—it’s choosing same colour.

This suave spin on the classic shirt and tie is a breath of fresh air for the look that can so often look overly corporate when done wrong. In the modern menswear wardrobe, so many of us are caught up on the old way of wearing ties, that actors like Eddie Redmayne are to subverting traditional neckwear in favour of bows, or sashes, just to be creative. But we needn’t go to such lengths to get innovative with our neckwear, just getting simpler with our matching works just fine.

Take Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who is currently on the press tour of a lifetime to promote his starring role in the upcoming blockbuster Oppenheimer. Murphy incorporated the look in sandy khaki, with a neat twill black suit. It’s a look that echoes the uniform worn by on-screen actor Matt Damon as the engineer Leslie Groves—the monochrome service uniform worn by US soldiers during the Second World War.

Thankfully, the military-industrial complex does not need to be referenced each time you match a tie and shirt. Khakis and tans can make way for soft pastels, even patterns for the ultra-confident. Jeff Goldblum, one of Hollywood’s most sharply-dressed men, has also taken to the red carpet recently in the bold coloured look.

His take—Prada—made use of a soft blush pink shirt and tie matched with an Air Force blue suit. It was simple. It was easy. The monochrome tie just adds a little something different, without going full bore. While the single colour is the cleanest way to pull off the look, Goldblum has shown in the past that it’s just as possible when done with patterns, having experimented with stripes too.

It’s the most subtle pop to the ultra-formal look that works from smart casual right up to the red carpet. But if the block-colour style is a little too much for you, you also could follow Paul Rudd’s take. By using dark taupe as a base colour, Rudd added an extra detail with a white-flecked pattern on his tie. The building blocks matched, but there was a splash of pizazz to break up the more muted tone. It really comes down to the little details.

The trend is bigger than the red carpet too. Aussie actor Kodi Smit-McPhee embraced the look for Prada’s spring/summer 2024 show, going a lighter shade of khaki under a charcoal grey suit. With the drama around neckwear and formality, this is one look steadily gaining momentum that we can get behind.

And yes, the temptation could be to opt for a black, or even all-white suit and tie. It’s easier, sure, and when it's on Barry Keoghan, it looks great. But a splash of colour, or pattern is where this look finds its most eye-catching look. In this vein, the tie is less of a ‘tie’ but just another accessory to our fit. It’s no longer the stuffy silk noose of the corporate world, but a way to subdue the formality of a tie without shedding its outfit-enhancing ability.

We can see now, that even the most humdrum of classic menswear looks, the good old shirt and tie, does have the potential to be the bold, risk-taker in your next outfit. Whether formal or smart casual, all you need to start doing is get aquatinted with your colour-matching. It’s not that hard.

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