Choosing the correct tie for the day ahead is a regular part of my morning routine, and one that I like to spend a little (but not too much!) time doing. Colour and pattern are important, but there are a number of other factors that contribute to getting a tie to look just right:
The Width
One of the less well known facets of dressing well is the art of keeping ties, shirt collars and suit lapels in proportion. A suit with wide lapels compliments a wide tie and deep-collared shirt; a suit with slim lapels compliments a slim tie and narrow-collared shirt. Needless to say, an outfit that consists of mainly wide proportions will make the wearer appear wider. This might be desirable if you’re proud of your physique, but well-nourished individuals should opt for slimmer lines.
The Knot
Knots require little in the way of discussion: the humble four-in-hand is adequate for almost every type of modern shirt collar. One of the few exceptions is the extreme cutaway collar, which looks better with a half-Windsor knot.
Unless you have a head that is the size and shape of Chernobyl-grown watermelon you should avoid the Windsor knot: its size will detract from every other part of your outfit, and its symmetry will make your outfit look too studied. Ian Fleming’s James Bond was said to mistrust “anyone who tied his tie with a Windsor knot. It showed too much vanity. It was often the mark of a cad.” Much has changed since Fleming’s day, but the Windsor’s reputation hasn’t, as its frequent association with Premier League footballers attests.
The Dimple
It’s often said that a tie looks its best when it has a dimple just below the knot. This is true, but with some ties it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. I have a number of ties that dimple perfectly, but I also have many others that, despite my best efforts, absolutely refuse to form one. If your tie won’t dimple, don’t desperately try to make it do so at the expense of the fabric: some of them simply weren’t made for it.
The Length
Getting the length of a tie just right can be a maddening experience. Many a time have I stood in front of the mirror, trying for an age to get both ends of the tie to be roughly the same length. And once I’ve done that, I’ll often find that it’s still too long, ie, the ends fall below my belt line. If you’re tying a four-in-hand, the easiest way to solve this length issue is to wrap the thicker blade of your tie twice around the thinner blade before pulling it through the loop. You’ll find that the knot is slightly bigger (but not noticeably so), and the tie’s ends now rest on, or slightly above, your belt line.
The Twist
The four-in-hand knot tends to twist the blades of the tie at a slight angle from the shirt. You may find this is especially noticeable when you bend down to tie your shoelaces or pick something up. I’ve found that a few quick tugs when bringing the knot up to the shirt collar usually sorts this out. If you’re still annoyed by it, you might want to invest in a tie clip.
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The sentiment that wide lapels, ties, and collars will make a man look wide seems misinformed. You need to think about it in terms of proportion to the man himself. Imagine an average man with an average lapel width. Standing one side is a wide man with a wide lapel and to the other a slim man with a slim lapel. Proportionally to their suits, they will all look properly dressed. If you put a rotund man in a suit with narrow lapels, it will only call more attention to his girth.
You understand it in terms of the tie knot; a large knot only looks right on a man with a very large head. You wouldn’t put a very small knot on a man with a big head. He’d look like a helium balloon.
What I don’t understand, and likely never will, is people’s fascination with the four in hand knot. As you note, it’s asymmetric, causes unnecessary twisting and just looks like the wearer couldn’t be bothered tying their tie properly.
Some people seem to enjoy these qualities, perhaps thinking that it imparts a rakish air to their outfit, but really when you put so much effort into getting everything else correct, why not use a knot that looks as good as the rest of your suit?
Try the Pratt knot. It’s easy to tie, symmetric, not bulky, and allows you to form a dimple if you want to. It’s far better than the four in hand.
other than a pocket square or maybe one’s watch, a tie is one of the only areas that provides relief from the perfect symmetry of a suit. anyway, for something that evolved from scarves and ribbons (I mean have you see the how crazy and all over the place ties were back in the 19th century?), I don’t think a perfectly symmetrical tie can be called THE proper method.
With regards to the length of a tie, I have given up on making the front and back the same length. The tail is not so short as to look ridiculous and adds a little sprezzatura to the daily grind.
And Owen, if you’re going to nitpick about the little details in a day’s attire I can’t imagine overlooking wearing a tie with the tail’s seam facing front-ways. It will inevitably peek out and give the exact same appearance that you would like to avoid.
Ryan, that’s just the point…fashion blogs and magazines are filled with people worrying the details. Call it nitpicking if you wish, but it’s certainly not just me who does it. But in the midst of all that analysis that goes on (fit, finish, fabrics, patterns etc.) to have an asymmetric knot seems, to me, like an oversight. But that’s only my opinion.
And as for the tail’s seam facing forward, it tucks nicely into the loop on the back of the larger blade of the tie and no one will be the wiser.
Owen – a wholly symmetrical knot (eg Pratt-Shelby or half-Windsor) can for some people look too studied – although I do use them sometimes myself. The four-in-hand has graced necks in all walks of life across many epochs so has nothing to be ashamed of, and it has the virtue of being ‘smart but not too smart.’
I disagree slightly with the author on his stricture against using more than one knot. By chance I own three ties allegedly by the same manufacturer (or perhaps “designer” would be more accurate) which all behave differently on tying. I find I need to use a Kelvin knot to keep one of them in proportion but still looking like a four-in-hand. And another (my favourite pattern) is so disproportionately narrow in the middle that it only looks balanced with a Cavendish knot.
I do not necessarily agree with the width point, I think it depends much more on how broad one is built. I happen to be quite… well-nourished, but my shoulders peak at nearly 23 inches. Any tie narrower than standard looks ridiculous on me.
That said, I agree on that, old-fashioned wide ties can look pretty clown-like.
Same for the Windsor knot : I have a pretty big head. Depending on the tie, a four-in-hand can look too small and a Windsor knot doesn’t stick out.
I don’t think asymmetry is bad for tie knots, it just depends on the occasion. I tend to like asymmetrical knots for less formal times (I am pretty partial to the Italian knot, which is really asymmetric).
I’ve always thought that I had tied a 4-in-hand, but I’ve realized that I’ve only used it for very few ties. Having looked at the different knots out there, I think I end up using something like a plattsburgh (which also resembles the “italian” knot) or prince albert knot. All depends on the thickness and length of the tie. I was trying to think of a good reason to ever use a windsor… maybe under a v-neck sweater or high vest, where not much of the rest of the tie is showing?