This is a very widely discussed topic, try searching the forums but use the term "pocket square" which is the much more commonly accepted moniker here. It will take you days to read it all I'm sure

Just did a quick search and turned this up:

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?t=87005&highlight=pocket+square

 

One word, in the imperative: Experiment.

 

Always remember, "A gentleman's pocket square, tie, and cummerbund were never intended to share the same gene pool."

 

Nigel W:

It may have started out as a handkerchief in the breast pocket, but now a handkerchief belongs in a trouser pocket (and really isn't necessary with the invention of the tissue) and a pocket square belong in the breast pocket of a man's jacket or overcoat.

The pocket square is for decoration only and will never touch a nose!! :icon_smile_big:

As for folds for a pocket square see my Pocket Square Chapter of The Encyclopedia of Men's Clothes.

 

I usually use a TV/flat fold for a white linen pocket square, and either a one point or a puff for colored or white silk, but PJC said it best: try different folds and see what you like best.

 

I fold them diagonally so you see a triangle sticking out of the pocket.

 

Some great advice - thanks!

On this side of the Altantic I have heard of a square, which is worn around the neck, but never the term "pocket square". As many of you have kindly pointed out, there are plenty of interesting threads on pocket squares, which I have been reading with interest.

 

If they are folded and regular I think they look too preppy, but if they are too dishevelled and dangling they can look excessively Bohemian. I incline more towards the latter approach than the former but I dont think I am getting it quite right yet.

I just don't think they are you. Asked nicely, I would take them off your hands, especially if you threw in a bottle of port. PM me.

 

In the UK ....

pocket squares are more usually called 'pouchetts'. Silk ones folded in a tv fold look abyssmally out of place. A puff or a combination puff and point folds are much better. However, the point fold with the square drooping down out of the pocket is much too artsy. See the Duchamp site for some good pouchette folds. Who says the English are more conservative in their dress.

 

I like a fairly controlled p.s. myself. The silk ones I tend to fold so that a triangle sticks up about an inch or so. There's also a nice folding method illustrated in the Bernhad Roetzel book using an Hermes silk pochette gavroche.

The puff style sounds good in principle, but when I've tried to execute it I seem to end up with too much silk flopping out of the pocket, which looks distracting and untidy to my eye. If I were an artsier-looking fellow, maybe this would work. But I'm not, so it don't. Here indeed is an area where every man needs to find his own style.