Pocket squares are one of my favorite accessories and I hardly ever leave the house without one, except maybe if you have a jacket with a big boutonniere and another pocket square will just throw everything off balance visually. Many pocket squares are just plain or have the same pattern, some other pocket squares can be folded in many different ways, I sometimes call them three-in-one pocket squares because you can wear it this way or that way or just combine the look.
Before we walk through the pockets square folds, it’s important to keep two things in mind; one is different pocket squares have different sizes and sometimes, they’re too big, sometimes they’re too small, and they disappear in your pocket but ideally, you want something that works perfectly for your chest pocket. At Fort Belvedere, we’re a firm believer in producing pocket squares that make you look your best and that means every material has a different size because no two textures, stiffnesses, and weights are the same. Likewise, just with a self tied bow tie, you never want your pocket square to look like it’s folded too perfectly, too neatly, or too symmetrically. Why? Because if you want to strive for a nonchalant elegance that just looks like you put it there and it fell into place and not like someone who actually ironed a pocket square because that makes it look like a pre folded one and that’s never stylish.
Classic Fold
The classic fold is also known as the square fold, the straight fold, TV fold, or presidential fold. It’s a very traditional fold and typically seen on news anchors, weddings, or maybe formal offices at a law firm. Of course, I also show you how to make it look a bit more casual but in general, this type of a fold looks best with linen or cotton pocket squares which have a bit of stiffness to them.
I first start out with a pocket square and I want the hand rolled edge to face up so I fold it in half this way. I can fold it in half once more. While I do this, I can make sure that everything aligns properly. So from the front, I just want to have one neat edge. Make sure you fold about 1/3 or 1/4, depending on the depth of your pocket and take it and put it in your pocket to see how it fits. You may have to adjust it a little bit until you show about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch out of your pocket. Traditionally, this corner points towards your left shoulder. Some people prefer it to point the other way, that’s fine too. In this case, it was folded so it pointed towards the inside. I could just flip it around the other way and it would point towards the outside.
If I don’t want this kind of a stiff fold, what I can do is I can slightly, when I fold it, arrange things, have this kind of top edge already come out a little bit, have it stand like this, and then maybe have it even like folded like this so all these edges are visible and the overall look is just a little more nonchalant in your pocket.
If you have stronger contrast edges, you can accentuate them a little more by again, pulling up a little bit, folding it a little more and then just once you’ve tucked it in your pocket, you can also adjust it a little more later just to get the final look that looks great for you. When you see a tag here, just make sure to fold it in so it’s not visible or in this case, I’d probably start over again and just fold in a different direction. That way, there’s no visible tag and I just have a nice neat clean looking pocket square.
Crown Fold
A lot of people call it the points fold. It looks particularly good with a contrast edge or some cross stitching and something that has a little bit of stiffness to it, such as a linen square or maybe a wool, wool silk square. You can also work with a silk pocket square, just make sure it’s big enough so it doesn’t disappear in your pocket.
It’s very easy; you start and you basically want the one corner to be folded like so so it’s very closely next to the other one and you fold the right corner in so it comes in like that and finally, the other corner. If you see the tag, you just fold it under or you basically cut it off. Once you have this, you can either fold on to the inside like so or you can fold them flip it around to the back side. Then again, you fold up about a third or depending on what your pocket is so you have it like so, and you can actually tuck it in like so.
You never want this to look too symmetrical, otherwise, it looks like a pre-fold pocket square. So, when you start out, you can pull them a little higher and a little lower just to be a little more playful. Alternatively, what you can do is you can make the fold quite a bit wider and then you basically fold it on the way in or in the back, that way, you’re getting a fold that’s a bit more unusual and it has just a different look to it even though there are points. The third option is to use what is called kind of point fold or you can just take your pocket square like this, you pinch it in the middle here, you pull it through and you look what kind of result you get and just maybe you can twist it by half and then put it in your pocket.
The advantage of this fold is that it always looks very effortless very easily, at the same time, it’s not very consistent and every time it’s slightly different. Some people like it, others hate it. If you want more consistency, go with a crown method I showed in the beginning, if you like it more effortless and nonchalant, use this method.
For a crown fold, you want to make sure that you have hand rolled edges because they look a lot nicer than machine hemmed ones. A pocket square is a decorative piece and because of that, you always want to have the best possible edge which is a hand-rolled edge. Here you have an X stitch, you can also have a regular edge or a shoestring contrast edge. To learn more about the differences in quality of hand-rolled edges, please check out the video below.
Puff or Pinch Fold
This looks particularly dapper in a silk or silk wool blend because the folds break light in a very sophisticated way. I’ve made this fold with a linen pocket square before and it works but if it’s too stiff, chances are it will pop out over the course of the day which doesn’t look stylish. It’s called puff or pinch because you start by pinching it in the middle, again, you create a little hole and pull it right through nicely until you like the puff. Once you’re there, you can twist either by half or full rotation and just see what it looks like and stuff it in your pocket. By creating the rotation, you keep the pocket square and the little folds in place. That way, you can see the light breaks very nicely and very elegantly.
Some other people like to start it in the same way, they pinch it first, they push it through and then they kind of push it in like so. Personally, I don’t like it very much because over the course of the day, it’ll just puff out and then in your pocket, it’s just a big poof that’s not very elegant.
A third way to get a somewhat more irregular puff is to take one corner, tuck it into your pocket then take the opposite corner, stuff it in as well then take the others, stuff them in until you just have something in the center that you like.
Again, make sure you look where the tag is so it doesn’t stand out and it’s visible. The easiest way to do that is just to cut out the tag but be careful not to cut into the hand-rolled edge or damage the pocket square. A small pair of nail scissors or maybe a seam ripper are best.
Upside Down puff Fold
It’s just like the puff fold but you point out the opposite first. I think this one works particularly well with a silk or silk wool pocket square, linen can be a little stiff and ideally, the center of your pocket square has a different look than the edges. That way, you do maximum versatility and flexibility and creating a look that is unique.
The upside-down puff fold is very similar to the points fold and a puff fold because you start out by pinching, you create a little circle, you pull things through, you twist in a half once and really look more at the points and the tips and you stuff it into your pocket. The beauty is you can show one point or two points or three points or four points or you can also show the medallion, as well as the points. It looks really nice if the center is different from the edges.
Some people like to just show three points with the center, others like to show just two where they put it on the side, others just like to show one, tuck them all in and just show one point with the pocket square. The choice is up to you, you can do whatever you like, just make sure your pocket square is large enough so it won’t disappear in your pocket.
Shell Fold
It is unusual in a sense that you don’t see it a lot, it requires a bit of skill, and I like it with a silk pocket square or silk wool pocket square that is sizable, otherwise, it’ll just disappear in your pocket.
First of all, fold pocket square on to the sides so the hand rolled edges point up and you see the backside of the pocket square. old it in half diagonally so you have a big, nice triangle. Take your left index finger, point it in the middle and fold it again in half, making sure that you see enough of the pattern back and forth, like so. Then, lift your index finger on the left, put it down again, and fold it once more. You can even fold it one more if you want but usually, three times is enough. If you have this and you fold it in this way, you get a beautiful shell. As you can see, that can look quite symmetrical and again, this is not something you want so your stuff it in your pocket and then you start pulling on the shells so you get a slightly different look that is askew and more elegant.
You can also try to put them a little closer together and pinch them in a different way and get just a different look that incorporates the shell fold but it’s still different. When you use a silk wool pocket square like this one, the look is a little more matte. On the other hand, if you use a silk pocket square, it’s a little more vibrant. So again, starting by folding it in half diagonally and again, one, two. When you fold the folds towards your tie, towards your shoulder, or to the middle, it always creates a different look that is quite sophisticated.
Scallop Fold
This fold really highlights the edges of a pocket square so it works well with contrasting edges and something that says visually interesting. It is similar to a shell fold in the sense that it uses the curves of the pocket square. I think it looks particularly nice if you have a contrast edge or maybe a cross stitch edge. Just the contrast between the edge and the pocket square is important.
So again, I flip it around so I have the back side up. I fold in half diagonally once, I fold it in half diagonally twice, and I want to make sure that ideally, the contrast edges are all visible and not just aligned. In the next step, I’m folding in the edges here on this one and on this one, folding the edges here on the side, folding it up and putting it in a pocket. I can adjust the scalloped edges just so it’s a little more elegant and nonchalant.
You can see the contrast edges just create an interesting visual cue. If you want, in the last step, you can also fold it slightly asymmetrically just as to get a more unusual curve and look a little more elliptical and unusual. I just like it when it looks a bit different and not too studied.
Rose Fold
It works particularly well with a pocket square that is printed on something where you see the pattern in the back or maybe it’s printed on both sides. You start out by actually taking the backside and you want a pocket square where the print back shows through. You fold the corners to the center until you get a square, almost looks like a little package. Next, take your 3 fingers and pinch down here in the middle, take your left hand, hold it in place, and pull out your center a little bit. Stuff it in your pocket, adjust a bit, pull out the center, and you get this typical kind of rose pattern where you have the points that surround the center. In this case, the center still has a pattern so it creates a nice visually interesting look.
Angel’s Peak Fold
It is very similar to a crown fold and I typically prefer the crown fold but if you have a contrast edge, the angel’s peak fold puts the contrast in a different position which can look quite elegant. Just keep in mind with the angel’s peak fold, adjust the tips or the points so they look more effortless and not like they just came out of a pre-folded set.
You fold it diagonally like this and you take it in half. You get things up like this and like this or you may even pull it out so you can see the edge of the pocket square now shows on the side and the other edge has no visible stitching. So, once you have that, you can fold the pocket square, to the width of your pocket square, fold it down and put it in your pocket.
Ideally, you want to pull these edges slightly higher, slightly lower, just so you get a more effortless look, not something that looks too studied. That’s why I like the cross stitches because they’re slightly irregular in any ways.
Bonus: Stair Fold
Of course, there are plenty of other folds. A really popular one is probably the so called stair fold. Personally, I’m not a big fan of it because it looks very symmetrical and just like I got it from a set from Men’s Wearhouse. In my mind, the only way a stairs fold looks good is if you have a center medallion and something that it’s different on the outside, something that’s large enough, and something that’s like a silk wool blend that is soft enough to actually get the right definition. If you have something too springy, like a linen fabric, it just won’t work.
You turn it around on the back side. You basically fold it in half diagonally. You take the tip and you go in the other direction again and you start just shy of the edge and you fold it back again. What you want is parallel lines on the pocket square and you can do it again, go forward, make sure to fold, stays, and then go backward. Now, you have three, you can do it once more until four. Hold it in place with your left hand with your index finger go underneath and fold it in half, this way. When you have this, you fold it under like so to hold it in place, fold it under and now, you tuck it into your pocket. You can either tuck this way in or you just fold it the other way around and you tuck the other way in.
I always try the right to be a little higher because that’s the side I want to put in, points towards my shoulder. When it’s in right, it looks very symmetrical and planned and I don’t like that so I’m pulling a little bit on each fold and try to get an angle in there that makes it look a little more unique and nonchalant.
Conclusion
I urge you to experiment a bit because with practice comes better folds. All the quality pocket squares featured are available in our shop. I designed them all myself to make sure they have the proper size, they have an unusual color scheme that picks up other colors in your outfit so it always looks harmonious and elegant. If you have a white pocket square with an initial you can also fold it so the middle initial is visible in the front, looks quite cool. If it’s too much for you, you can just fold the initial back and it just looks plain white.
If you have been with us for a while, you may have already seen our video from years ago but we’ve come a long way since we first filmed and posted it. Even so, here’s our original video on pocket square folding.
What are your favorite folds? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
from Gentleman's Gazette https://ift.tt/1WRc0D6
0 Comments