Most men play it safe with ties and end up with a drawer full of solid navies and greys that blur into one another. A printed tie is where personality actually enters the picture, but the difference between one that looks considered and one that looks like a novelty gift is almost entirely down to execution. Scale matters. So does the quality of the silk and whether the repeat pattern sits correctly once the tie is knotted. We’ve been looking specifically at prints that work in a professional setting without being boring, and at options that hold up at weekends when the suit is swapped for a blazer and trousers. Foulard, paisley, geometric, small floral. The ones we’ve picked all have one thing in common: they were clearly designed by someone who understood how a tie actually gets worn rather than just how it looks flat on a table. That difference shows.