The Ties Have It: Dressing Like Saul Goodman

At first glance, dressing like Saul Goodman in the hit television series, “Better Call Saul” doesn’t appear to be all that difficult. You just pair a brightly-colored shirt with a dark suit and you’re more than halfway there, right? Well, yes, but the hardest part is yet to come: choosing the tie. The neckties that ambulance chaser-turned-criminal-lawyer Saul Goodman wears are really what make the entire outfit. Believe it or not, it takes a keen fashion eye to choose the right “ugly” tie to finish Goodman’s ensemble. Here are some tips to finding the perfect neckwear for your Goodman look.

Colors

The first consideration when selecting a tie to match Saul Goodman’s style is the color. This is because his ties don’t necessarily match his shirts. For example, if he’s wearing a blue shirt, he might also be wearing a purple tie, which aren’t two colors that would normally be paired together because they’re too close on the color wheel. A more natural color would be a yellow or an orange, which are complementary colors to blue. Saul takes more color risks with his ties and those risks are what make his outfits bold and eye-catching.

At times, Goodman will go with a more conservative (for him) look by wearing the same color shirt and tie. For instance, there is one episode where he wears a purple shirt and purple tie, but since the tie also features thin black and gray stripes, the monochromatic palette actually looks good. If you’re going to wear two different shades of the same color, be sure the shirt is a lighter shade than the tie.

Patterns

As Saul Goodman becomes more successful over the seasons, his ties become more gaudy, with wild patterns and crazy designs. But, they are still carefully selected to “match” his shirts. When he wears a tie with several colors, there is always one that either matches the color of his shirt or complements the color of his shirt. As an illustration, there is one episode where Goodman wears a very loud tie that has a purple and blue base and is covered with yellow and orange dots. It sounds pretty hideous, but the yellow dots perfectly match his solid yellow shirt.

At first glance, this tie wouldn’t be something you’d expect a lawyer to wear, but since it’s matched with a fairly conservative shirt, it works well. Even describing it here makes it sound like an article of clothing that a clown would wear, but on Saul Goodman, it’s just another expression of his colorful personality and it doesn’t look out of the ordinary at all.

If you’ve never worn a lot of color and you’re looking to emulate Saul Goodman’s style, start by following the fashion rules first. Choose a tie in a complementary color to the color of your shirt. This will be a bold statement and will still be considered a stylish look. Once you get the hang of mixing and matching the “right” colors, start breaking the rules a little by choosing a tie that has a base color that’s adjacent to the color of your shirt on the color wheel, but still has a complementary color somewhere in the pattern. Before you know it, you’ll be dressing like Saul and feeling confident that you look fantastic.