Necktie Knots

[Hexenmeister]

I find myself favoring the Double Windsor most of the time. My neck is 14.5 inches, so I usually have some length to play with in my ties. I also prefer narrow ties (I hate wearing anything wider than 2.5 or so inches, they look like bibs on me), so I also don't have to worry about all that mass that comes with broad ties. So it works for me.

 

[Elgin1924]

Albert Knot

Hi there,

Personally I favour the four-in-hand for heavier, shorter ties, such as vintage ones, but when I have a bit of length to the tie I go for a double Albert knot, pretty much just longer and thinner than a half Windsor.

If I want a more "modern" look (and I'm not wearing a bow tie) I'll try the full Windsor, and it adds a bit of difference to the usual tie. As for the dimple, I am somewhat indifferent. If it has it, it has it, if not, so be it.

Sorry if I'm just restating someone elses posts, I'm new here.

Cheers,

Tommy

 

[Edward_Lindey]

I cant figure this bow tie thing out, I keep getting stuch at the last part where you bring the other end up and put it through a loop, anyone have any tips?

Edward

 

[Lokar]

One way to look at doing a bow tie I have seen mentioned (and it's apparently helpful) is to just picture tying a shoelace bow on your neck, as it's the same thing. I just learnt a bow tie through trying it many times a day and eventually it stuck.

 

[tonyb]

I cant figure this bow tie thing out, I keep getting stuch at the last part where you bring the other end up and put it through a loop, anyone have any tips?

Edward

As mentioned in another thread ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJv4Qh7zR3E

Clear, succinct, etc.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

There are also, amazingly (but perhaps not), iPhone apps to show you how to tie regular straight and bow ties.

 

[The Good]

I wear modern, 3 or 3 1/2 inch neckties, but I have two done as four in hand, and two done in a Pratt knot.

 

[CharlieB]

I have to concure with the half Windsor crowd. It's the best for getting symetry without using too much length (except for the couple ties I have that are extra long, then a full Windsor is needed since I too am not overly tall).

After you tie one for a while, the dimple will just naturally ocurr (100% silk of course).

 

[Harry Gooch]

I like the four-in-hand knot. It's the most comfortable to wear for extended periods.

 

[Big_e]

I mostly use the half Windsor but the last two months have rediscovered the Pratt knot. I like the carefree looks of it for some reason.
Ernest

 

[Woodfluter]

Good grief, 30 pages to wade through and nobody mentioned...

The "Christiansen" is actually commonly known as the alternate Half Windsor.
It is no less "filling", nor less symmetrical.
When tied, it doesn't look at all like the drawings (sorry!).
It spills - i.e., when you untie and pull the narrow end through, there's no knot left.
With the conventional Half Windsor, you're left with an overhand knot to undo.
Ties that don't automatically spill are a non-starter for me. PITA.
(FIH and FW spill BTW)

Yeah, I've seen the "85 Ways" treatise. Very interesting to a knot nut like me.
But there's only a few practical necktie knots amongst that number.
The alternate Half Windsor is every bit as good as its namesake, but better.

I had to wear neckties in junior high and high school (the prep school thing).
I started out with the Four In Hand exclusively.
Now I seldom use it except with very thick ties, e.g. wool or very casual.
The asymmetry bothers me somehow...although I saw a couple of decent examples in this thread.
Plus the narrowness, but see below.
Later on I gravitated by experiment to the Nicky, but abandoned that when I found the alt. Half Windsor.

My personal guide:
1. Most silk ties of average thickness: Alternate Half Windsor.
2. Rather long ties, medium thin to totally unlined: Full Windsor.
3. Shorter ties as above: Half Windsor drawn up tighter.
4. Wool or rather thick casual ties, and some really skinny ties: Four In Hand.

Not mentioned in the admiration for Golden Era style and smaller knots is the fact that a lot depends on how you pull it tight and finish it. It ain't all about the thickness and width. There's a bit of art in that.

Also depends on collar, but I'm just a button-down freak except for fairly formal (no matter what anybody says).

As for dimples, a matter of taste. I like them both ways, but it's surely easier to make a dimple in an unlined or thinner tie than the typical modern heavily-lined tie, which is one of my gripes. I favor the older-style, thinner tie and also don't like the look of ties hanging below the belt. Ya know.

All personal quirks.

Cheers!
- Bill

 

[Highlander]

Neck Tie Knot

Does anyone remember the neck tie knot from the 1970s where the tie was tied in a full windsor (or half for that matter) and then the tie was just lapped over the TOP of the knot and not tucked through it? Did that knot have a name?

 

[1280almas]

Hello, it may be the Onassis knot.

 

[Cobden]

Nowadays, I only wear a four in hand - at school, there was a strange fashion for wearing symmetrical knots - but I've found myself favouring the asymmetry of the four in hand. With modern ties combined with my short stature and preference for high waisted trousers, I have to tuck the thin end into my shirt - hence I tend to limit them to when I am wearing a waistcoat (when such things are better hidden)

 

[Feraud]

The Book of Ties calls it the "Onassis knot" and here is a pic of Willie Mays wearing the style

 

[Highlander]

Yep, that was it. I didn't really like it that well, but I remember lots of teachers wearing it some, and some of my fellow football players (we wore ties and blazers on game days).

 

[Gin&Tonics]

My tie always has a dimple. The key with tying any tie is not to make it look perfect but always slightly askew in some respect. To me a tie without a dimple looks like the big windor knots you see at the department store where they tie the ties on the shirts to display them on the table.

What I find funny about this is that I'm the exact opposite; probably due to my military background, anything askew, off center, asymmetrical etc. irks me to no end. I like my ties perfectly centered and dead straight. I only recently started discovering the 'dimple' and the jury is out for that. Apparently it's the in thing, but I don't know whether I prefer dimple or sans dimple.

 

[Gin&Tonics]

Sorry, a Prince Albert is a piercing through the glans of the penis.

bk

Incidentally, this joke of yours runs in circles, because the "Prince Albert" you're referring to most likely derives its name as a reference to the style of wearing one's pocket watch popularized by Queen Victoria's beloved husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, specifically with the chain anchored into one of the lower button holes of the waistcoat with a t-bar and draped across the front with the watch in the waistcoat pocket (the way I typically wear mine).

 

[Shangas]

Thank goodness someone knows the difference!!

 

[AntonAAK]

Thank goodness someone knows the difference!!

Could save some embarrasing mix-ups at the jewellers...