Too long ties.

[funneman]

Maybe I'm just hanging around with the wrong kind of people but has anyone else noticed an alarming trend by men to wear their neckties below their belts? I've been in South Florida, Philidelphia and a recent cruise and everywhere I looked I've seen mean wearing their ties halfway down their zippers.

Is this some kind of new fad or am I just surrounded by sloppy dressers?

I've always thought the tip of the tie should touch the belt buckle.

What's going on here?

 

[EvenOdd]

The tip at the buckle is good. A tie being before the belt is better than a tie after the belt. Maybe they're using their tie to compensate for what's below the belt? lol

 

[Edward]

I see this a lot in the UK too. I'm not sure why..... I generally always use a four in hand knot, but I find with many modern ties I have to wrap it round several times before I get it short enough for my liking - ideally, I prefer a tie to sit about an inch above the waistband. I loathe the look of a tie hanging lower than the waistband.

I don't think it's so much a fashion thing as that's just the length ties are now and most guys don't care about wearing it long.... if I knew somewhere I could have it done at minimal cost, though, I'd have all of mine professionally shortened to a 30s standard length.

 

[Feraud]

I have a short torso and hold an especially dark place in my heart for long ties.

 

[Flitcraft]

"Maybe they're using their tie to compensate for what's below the belt? "

Hmmm...
My Boss always wears his ties like this...
Hmmm...[huh]

 

[Twitch]

I've never seen anyone except rummies have the tie dip below the belt.:eusa_doh:

 

[dakotanorth]

Tie length- too *long*???

Everytime I wear vintage ties I have to totally cheat and make it longer- otherwise it doesn't even touch my belly button. I'm a bit tall, ya know....
I take it we are actually talking about modern ties- that's because most people are used to loose, oversized garments. Look at the sleeve length on suits today, they practically cover the back of the hand. It's a question of what people are accustomed to.

Jp

 

[The Wingnut]

I suppose a lot of these guys will look at the vintage tie wearer and wonder why the hell we tie 'em so short...

Modern ties are often FIVE FEET LONG! I've got a rack of 40+ ties, none newer than the early '50s...few of them are over 36". This might explain it, along with the ridiculous trend of modern super low rise trousers. Add the silly fist-sized knot and it really begins to look absurd.

I hardly ever get mine down to the belt buckle, usually there's about 3" or sometimes more between the tip of the tie and the top of my pants, depending on the tie and the knot I've used(although I've become so accustomed to the Pratt / Shelby in the past 4 years that I've forgotten how to tie most others). It shouldn't really matter because no gentleman should be seen without a jacket or waistcoat, anyway.

The 'belly warmer' look isn't that bad. Just look at Jeff 'Erv' Ervin of Stompy Jones. His is a sternum warmer!

 

[Dr. Shocker]

I almost always wear my ties past my buckle not much past but past none the less.....I wear skinny ties and have always liked the look....pet peeve maybe but remember individual style choices have always been around

 

[Dr. Shocker]

I've never seen anyone except rummies have the tie dip below the belt.:eusa_doh:

See He is right

hehehehehe

 

[The Wolf]

you shouldn't get me started

I've griped about this to everyone that will listen, and some that won't.
Look at Gabriel Byrne's tie in "The Usual Suspects", that's what got me started and i haven't shut up since. Recently Gary Sinise was in a print add with a tie going way down there.
Now I admit I don't usually wear my ties down to the fourth button like William Powell had done or even Joel McCrea in "Sullivan's Travels" but I prefer they hang a bit about the belt line. Then again I wear my belt line higher than a lot of people these days.
I've had to use a variety of knots depending on the length of tie. For my vintage ties I use a four-in-hand. Most of the other times I use a variation of Winsdor knot.
I'm tall and I look at some ties thinking "How the heck is a short trunk man suppose to wear this tie?".

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Jerekson]

Halfway down the zipper? That's taking it easy.

I've seen ties down below the fly entirely...

 

[funneman]

Interesting points.

I've never been hung up on a particular number of "in hands" to get a knot in my tie. Sometimes it's three, sometimes it's five, it all depends on the tie.

I do sometimes tighten or loosing the knot to comensate for the extra wraps or lack of them.

I try to avoid any space between the tip of the tie and the top of the belt, because it tends to emphasis my already overemphasized middle, giving me a bit of an "Oliver Hardy" look.

I really hope this extra long tie thing doesn't catch on. It's really embarrasing.

 

[Sefton]

I like about a 68" tie so I can thread it through the belt loops of my trousers and still have a proper Windsor...although I've heard that it's the improper Windsors that have all the fun.

 

[Jovan]

Many ties these days are too long to do a four in hand with... I often have to use the skinny end in the placket trick so either end doesn't end up sticking out below the waistband of my trousers. I'd use a Prince Albert (the four in hand variation discussed here where one wraps the wide end around another time) but I prefer smallish knots.

 

[Edward]

I like about a 68" tie so I can thread it through the belt loops of my trousers and still have a proper Windsor...

The brace (suspender)-tie combination will be all the rage in 2008...

 

[Martinis at 8]

Actually it's also okay if the bottom tip of the tie lands at the bottom of the belt buckle. The buckle itself is not supposed to be an ornament. However, extending it below that is indeed poor dress, IMO.

What's more egregious than having the tie too high or too low, IMO, is when the tie is exposed below whatever button is closed on the suit coat.

Tie length is easily remedied if one knows how to tie more than one type of knot.

M8

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

It is enough of a problem that I physically cannot wear modern ties at all. At least not with a FIH knot. All of the ties I wear are vintage ties or modern boy's ties (which have a 50" length).

 

[Ugarte]

Kind of OT

Ever had a "bad tie day"?

I remember on occasion when, for whatever reason, I had to retie a tie at least a dozen times before I finally got it. Some days it's enough to make you give up and grab another tie off the rack.

I also have a champagne-colored tie that is particularly silky silk. I nearly gave up on it when I wore it the first time -- the know just wouldn't stay together.

As you were.

Mark

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