Man Fashion: How Many Ways to a Handkerchief

These days, most men incorporate squares and handkerchiefs into their suits for the simple reason that it’s elegant and adds interest to what otherwise might be an overly dark, plain look. Nevertheless, handkerchiefs get a bad rap as unsanitary when you want to blow your nose in them, even though this is what they were meant for and how they were used for centuries. When used as an accessory to a suit, a handkerchief is known as a pocket square. Wikipedia has list out several ways in which a pocket square can be folded :

• The Presidential is folded at right angles to fit in the pocket.

• The TV Fold is folded diagonally with the point inside the pocket.

• The One-point Fold is folded diagonally with the point showing.

• The Two-point Fold is folded off-center so the two points don’t completely overlap.

• The Three-point Fold is first folded into a triangle, then the corners are folded up and across to make three points.

• The Four-point Fold is an off-center version of the Three-point Fold.

• The Cagney is basically a backwards version of the Four-point Fold.

• The Puff or the Cooper is simply shaped into a round puff.

• The Reverse Puff is like the Puff, except with the puff inside and the points out, like petals.

If you wear many good suits and like to look sharp, you may want to explore more variants in how to fold a handkerchief. For most of these, you can certainly teach yourself, but you might ask the advice of a salesman in a high-end men’s clothing store too. That way, you can be sure you’re performing the fold correctly.

• The Astaire is a puff with a point on either side.

• The Straight Shell is pleated and then folded over to give the appearance of nested shells.

• The Diagonal Shell is pleated diagonally and then folded.

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