Posts tagged how to tie a tie

As I was getting ready to head to #UsGuysEH last night with some of my colleagues I brought a tie along just in case the occasion called for it. Wearing a tie these days is sort of hit or miss either because ties are not as common as they once were or because a wearer’s tying technique is limited to one style they probably learned long ago – namely the Prince Albert knot. The Prince Albert is the Fisher Price of tie techniques in that it’s everyone’s first tie. You would think that by the age of 25 one would learn a few more but it’s not the case. Usually one is taught the Prince Albert because it’s the easiest one to tie before your first communion or bar-mitzvah.

The Prince Albert

I find the Prince Albert to be unbalanced and it looks, well, half done due to it’s asymmetrical way of sitting. It would be a shame to get a great new suit only to have the look diminished by a poorly done tie. So here’s my little remedial for you guys who want to look a little classier. There are many tutorials online, of course, but those of you who subscribe to this blog will hopefully appreciate this post as we enter high wedding season. I’m going to skip right over the Kent ties and Half Windsor and take you right to the classy, symmetrical full/double Windsor knot. It looks great, balanced, and is big and bold. Whenever I wear a Windsor people ask me how I did it and I’m only too happy to show them.

The Full Windsor

It’s actually fairly simple to do and just takes a little bit of practice. The rule of thumb is to let the broad part of the tie hang a lot lower than the thin end as this knot uses a lot of tie up in order to complete it. Just cross the broad end over the thin end and loop it behind the cross and then behind the tie. Then pass the broad end over the knot from left to right to form the front face of the knot, After that just loop it behind the knot once more and into the slot created when you passed the broad over from left to right and stuff the tie through there. It sounds complicated and for a first timer it may end up being a pain. For all you visual learners, here’s the best video I’ve found that exemplifies the accepted method.

I have found a way to simplify the knot and get the same result. My method starts like step 1, skips step 2 and continues to step 3. So basically loop the broad end over the thin end once, go up, over and behind the knot, then do step 4 through 7. Voila! The great thing about the Windsor knot is that if it’s tied correctly it will not slip left and right on the collar so it will require little adjusting. Great for formal occasions and goes perfectly with a pocket square.

If you want to learn all the other most popular knots, check out http://www.tie-knots.org for some great tutorials. Stay Classy.