I checked with the Fashionista Tie Nazis (the "FTN"), which are all over the Internet to find out what are the popular tie colors coming up in fall 2010. Far be it for me to make such a strong determination on my own, as to possibly predict what will be popular in fall 2010. Even though everything has already been ordered by all the major retail chains, it is sitting in boxes waiting to be stocked on the shelves for Christmas. I know what is classy, what looks great, how to conduct oneself properly , but what will be popular? I abstain from making that call until after it happens. In the next few months all those "popular" fall colors of ties will be uncrated and attempted to be foisted on us lower fashionettes in the fashion industry food chain.
If I pay US$35 for popular tie, can I wear it for more than a few days without embarrassment? I usually only find out what is popular after it is popular. The trend goes like this: (a) some designer does something outrageous which appears to be uniquely original at first glance, but is actually a regurgitation of something from the past, presented in a new modified way. (I am presently waiting for man bags to come back in a big way, will that every happen again?)
But seriously, designers are the Cuisinarts of fashion. They take whatever influences that they have experienced in their lives, their new inspirations from the retro-revelations they had from lack of sleep and they toss it all into the fashion chopper and out comes the newest fashion trends. If one designer is bold enough to use pink, they ALL follow unless the trend-setter has de-trended by promoting pink bunny rabbit slippers as formal attire.
That is where the popular fashion trends come from. If it is unique and original like Lady Gaga's meat dress, it is not a fashion trend - it is an eccentricity. I tried wearing a Big Mac patty as a Speedo, the effect was just not the same. I am more blah blah, than gaga.
OK, so it comes to the choice of tie colors for fall. The now popular trends are, drum roll please, anything except the popular colors of spring and summer 2010, which were pastels, lavender, teal and turquoise, pink, bright orange (don't stand too close to a roadside wearing that tie or you might be confused for a road cone) and lime green! Now for fall, the recommendation is for solid colors, maybe a bit of tartan check and paisley.
I admire paisley for sticking around so long. It is over 50 years old and still setting fashion trends. And for the popular colors? Unfortunately we will all have to look back on the things that were worn in Fall 2010 to determine what the popular colors were. I am not betting on purple. There is no fashion crystal ball that tells anyone what the upcoming popular colors will be, only what they think they will be. Can designers drive this choice? Absolutely, it only depends on how many other designers want to copy them and rip off the first designer's "original" ideas. Follow at your peril.
Better is to feel what is appropriate for you, ask others that have some kind of color awareness and aesthetic talent to go shopping with you, if you cannot decide for yourself. Try things on, mix and match, then you will more likely find what is best suited for you. Choosing a tie color that goes with a suit and shirt that looks really good on you is easy when you try to do it this way. You can tell by how you feel and the reactions of others around you who you care about. Don't be afraid to express your uniqueness.