What do you do when you’re looking for a particular tie, or pocket square for that matter and simply can’t find it?
Well, Håkan Bruce was faced with that problem back in 2006 when he started Ulterior Motive, he wanted to wear ties more often than he had before, partly for work but also for leisure time. The problem was they were either too dull and boring, or they were just silly (think Donald Duck patterns and such). So he realised the only way to wear the designs he wanted, was to make them, so he did.
Ulterior Motive is mostly a mens accessories store, providing anything from bow ties to wallets, all made using material that fit the end goal of what they want the product to look and feel like, instead of sticking to silk ties, or only leather for the wallets they explore different designs and materials. The end result are ties and pocket squares made from anything from silk to wool to microfiber and even linen.
I decided to review the Navy Dots Pocket Square and Dots Navy Tie below.
Now, at first glance they look like a basic polka dot tie and pocket square right? But, take a closer look. Look at the dots. See anything peculiar? Yep, some of the dots are missing, randomly. I love that! It takes something traditional and almost boring and makes it fun and contemporary, its by far my favourite thing about these 2 items.
Both the tie and pocket square are made from woven microfibre, to be fair it looks just like silk, but I guess at a fraction of the price.
Navy and white are classic combinations so you will get a lot of use out of these guys, both as a mismatched pair or as individual items. The tie length is great and even with a double windsor knot (My knot of choice) I felt the tie held a good proportion. My only complaint, well, I would of liked it a little thicker, just ever so slightly, but this is just personal preference as I’ve gotten used to wearing broader ties over the last year or so. The pocket square has a great detail on the back with a navy stripe running through and a white dot that you can reveal on certain pocket square folds, again, the smallest complaint is that maybe it’s a little small, though I would rather have a too small pocket square than a bunch of material bulging up my lapel pocket as so many of my squares do.
In the end, I really liked these two products, they will become wardrobe staples for me so I’ve given them 4 out of 5 hangers. Yes, hangers…like stars, except hangers. They represent how much I think you might need something like this in your wardrobe…on a hanger…except figuratively of course.
The guys at Ulterior Motive sent me a couple of other things to check out and over all I was impressed with the range and quality as well as the fact that they’re incredibly well priced, go check them out if you’re looking to up your accessory game.
Okay. Stay fancy.
