the.com/pocket square
A square inch of fabric whose only job is to prove you didn't try too hard.
means A small decorative cloth folded or tucked into the breast pocket of a suit jacket, worn for style rather than use.
from From the plain combination of "pocket" and "square"—it is literally a square of fabric for a pocket. "Pocket" descends from Anglo-Norman "pokete," a little bag or pouch (a diminutive of "poke," the same sack that gives us "a pig in a poke"). The accessory itself is the dressier descendant of the handkerchief: once a practical cloth for the nose and brow, it migrated upward to the breast pocket as menswear formalized, where it shed its function and kept only its flourish.
- never matches
- It complements the tie, never copies it
- royal origin
- Ancient Greeks carried perfumed cloths centuries before suits existed
- pure decor
- Unlike a handkerchief, never meant to be used
- fold names
- Styles include puff, presidential, and the dramatic crown
brooks brothers pocket square — american menswear staple established 1818, standard accessory in their dress collections