All you need to know about Tie Knots

It is hard to say officially how many ways there are to tie a knot. Some people pretend

that more than 50 exist and some others claim just 5, with all possible and impossible derivatives. But a knot is much more than what it shows. The occasion, a mood, a personality, a culture, we can find all that in a well done knot, would it be complicated, original or a just a simple one.

The Four-in-Hand

The Four-in-Hand is very popular, taught by fathers to sons for generations this classic knot is simple and suites most types of shirt collar. Once tied, the four-in-hand is asymmetrical and quiet narrow which means that it suits medium to tall men the best due to their height. As far as pros and cons of this knot go, it is very easy to tie and is also self-releasing. The cons of it are the fact that it is quiet common and you won’t stand out unless you are wearing a very stylish tie. A perceived downside to some people would be the fact that it isn’t symmetrical and my not look as sharp as a symmetrical tie knot.

The Pratt

The Pratt knot is another symmetric and smart knot which is surprisingly easy to tie. Also known as the Pratt-Shelby due to the fact that it was famously worn by Jerry Pratt, a member of the US Chamber of Commerce for twenty years before TV personality Don Shelby wore it on air and the New Yord fashion press said he invented it.

This knot produces a medium siz knot and is self-releasing. An unusual thing about this knot is the fact that it starts “reverse side out” and is sometimes attributed to Milanese tailors and called the Milan-style knot in Italy. Using less length than either of the Windsor varieties, the Pratt knot is suited to shorter ties or taller men.

The Half-Windsor

The Half-Windsor knot, also is a slightly simpler version of the classic full Windsor knot. One of the amazing things about Half-Windsor is the fact that it is symmetrical and therefor looks especially stylish and smart. It creates a neat triangular shape and fits well on classic collar shirts. The Half-Windsor requires a fairly lightweight tie as it ends up being slightly bigger than your standard four-in-hand. Positives on the Half-Windsor is the fact that it is self-releasing and isn’t too difficult whilst still being formal.

The Windsor

The Windsor knot is a perfect knot for special occasions due to the grand size and owes its name to the Duke of Windsor who has made it so popular today. Due to the size and the volume of the knot once it is finished it is suited to Windsor or Italian collars and the symmetrical triangular knot must fit exactly between the collar tips and should hide the top button of the shirt completely. The tie used for this knot should ideally be about 4cm long than a conventional tie to ensure that it still reaches the belt once finished. Some positives of the Windsor knot are that it is self-releasing like the Half-Windsor and is very comfortable for the wearer as it fits snugly without pushing the collar towards the neck.

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