Striped Ties
Striped ties can be good or bad, wearer beware though. You really want to be careful when wearing or buying a striped tie. You want to note which way the stripes go, the size of each stripe and above all... if you have something to wear it with. I know many people already know that you have to be careful with striped ties, but for those of you who don't listen up.
What Not to Wear
You don't want to wear a tie thats striped are very many and very colorful... Especially if they are brighter colors. You might end up looking like you string life savors from your neck and end up totally ruining what would have otherwise been a very nice and very simple outfit. You especially don't want to wear a striped tie like this if the stripes are horizontal. Vertical and diagonal are better but be careful, not many people can putt that off wearing a normal suit... if any. It may be doable with just a white shirt, but you would have to be quite an individual to make it work well.
Aside from really colorful ties horizontal stripes are okay so long as the stripes are fairly broad, maybe a half an inch wide to an inch wide and kept on the darker side. Earthy tones work well. Colors like gray, black, or dark green are fine. ALthough normally on ties you want to play with the length and space that you are given. When a tie has just horizontal stripes the tie shows well. Well, the shape of the tie anyway. You want the tie to either blend in with the suit or compliment the suit. A diagonal striped tie, or ties really, will fit more smoothly into the tie and will allow the design to flow better. The stripes will flow. The person eyes will not be caught on each level. It's like a top or those things outside barbers, the persons mind, subconsciously or consciously will easily flow from one strip to the next allowing them to see the whole tie as one smooth design.
Vertically Striped ties
It is hard to go wrong with vertically striped ties. Granted it is harder to go wrong with diagonally striped ties, vertical ones are normally okay. There is a lot more leeway here as to how wide the stripes can be and what the colors are. Again, diagonal stripes are better, but you get a very good flow and over all shape. It matches or lines up well with the look of your overall body. I mean ties do resemble people. They are taller than they are wide. It's like the whole thing about wearing striped shirts. Do not wear a shirt with many horizontal stripes. It just does not look right.