Tie a Tie

• TASK: Tie a Windsor knot in order to ensure that you look sharp when you need to dress up.
• CONDITIONS: Given a standard necktie, dress shirt and an occasion to wear them both.
• STANDARD: You must be able to successfully tie a Windsor knot using the necktie.

The necktie is an accessory that has been in style for hundreds of years. Men’s clothing styles have become more casual in recent years, but there are still many occasions such as weddings, funerals, and job interviews where wearing a tie is appropriate. Immediately before the event is not the time to try to learn how to tie a tie.

Anatomy of a Tie
A tie is flat and has a narrow end and a wide end. Once the tie is tied, the wide end will be on top of the narrow end. Many ties have a small loop sewn onto the back of the wide end that you can slide the narrow end into so that it is held in place.

The Windsor Knot
You’ll use the wide end to perform all the actions necessary to correctly tie the Windsor knot and then use the narrow end to snug it up to your neck.

• Drape the tie around your neck with the wide end on your right and the narrow end on your left so that the tip is about an inch above your belly button.
• Bring the wide end to the left over the narrow end so that they cross snugly against your neck.
• Bring the wide end up between your collar and the tie so that the wide end hangs down on the left side of the narrow end.
• Bring the wide end to the right and under the narrow end.
• Thread the wide end down between your collar and the tie so that it hangs facing backwards and to the right of the narrow end.
• Bring the wide end to the left over the narrow end and thread it up between your collar and the tie.
• Thread the wide end through the loop that you created in the last step on the front of the knot.
• Snug the knot by gently tugging on the wide end and shaping the knot into a ‘V’ shape.
• Once the knot is shaped the way you want it, pull gently on the narrow end to slide the knot up towards your neck until it is positioned correctly in your collar.

Sources

• Art of Manliness
• Ties.com