On ties and their knots.
Hello, friends in fashion. I’m happy to announce this week’s controversial topic: how to tie and wear a tie!
The tie has an interesting history in fashion. Initially worn by Croatian cavalry soldiers during the Thirty Years’ War as an emergency tourniquet, it was adopted by the French Bourbons and initially known as a Cravat. The tie’s ancestors evolved into what we have today - pretty much a slender piece of fabric to add color and style to the first modern suits.
Next week’s column will delve specifically into the world of ladies’ fashion. For now, however, let us turn to ties.
Let’s assume you’ve bought a shirt, and now you’re looking to complement it with the perfect tie. Aside from color matching (which will be covered in a later article), there are several tie characteristics that can help you match your tie with your shirt.
If your shirt has a spread collar, which is to say that the collar points more outward than it does in, and is farther apart than it is closer together, you’re going to want a tie that is well suited to the Windsor knot. Ties of this nature generally have two to three traits by which you can recognize them. First, the silk or other fabric is going to be starchier, and harder and/or coarse to the touch - this is caused by the threading being closer together and tighter than other fabrics. Secondly, the tie is ought to be wider than other ties - this gives more volume to the Windsor once it is tied. Lastly, although this one is less common (unless you’re shopping for big & tall sizes), the tie may be longer, giving you more fabric with which to work.
If your shirt has a narrower collar, one that is closer together than it is farther apart, or a shirt with a tab or bar collar; the tie for you is going to be of a quality more desirable for a smaller tie knot. These ties generally have looser threading and softer fabrics, they are skinnier and sometimes they are shorter than other ties. Generally, these ties are best for the four-in-hand, and often the half-Windsor. A special consideration for oxford shirts (visible button-down collars): these shirts, when worn with ties, ought to have their top button remain undone, and either a half-Windsor or a four-in-hand holding the collar loosely together.
Collars that can only be described as regular are best suited to the half-Windsor knot - a tie that is found somewhere between the wide- and narrow-collar ties. Their widest point, however, should be the same width as your coat’s lapel at its widest point. Use your own discretion within these guidelines. Looking good requires something of a “touch,” something that is only developed with experience. Feel the cloth in your hand, visual something of the end product, and using these loose guidelines, pick a tie that you think will look best.
Given that the process of actually tying a tie is fairly complicated and requires visual instructions, I’ve found an excellent instructions provided by the Men’s Wearhouse.
As a general rule with tie-lengths, the end point of the tie should fall somewhere between your belt buckle. Your belt buckle should be center to and linear with your navel. There should be a continuous line between where your trousers’ zipper begins, up through the belt buckle, and the buttons. The tie should fall over the shirt buttons and terminate, again, somewhere in the half-inch space between the top and bottom of your belt buckle.
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31 Responses to “On ties and their knots.”
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Posted from: 70.56.92.9
April 5th, 2005 20:57
Fyi ties are phallic
Posted from: 129.81.63.31
April 5th, 2005 20:58
Ryan,
What about bowties?
Posted from: 70.33.109.201
April 5th, 2005 21:03
Ya I’ve always wondered about that phallic thing.
Nuclear weapons I can understand. I mean their meant to blow people up and stuff…
but who here has ever tied a phallus around an open wound?
Posted from: 68.96.164.202
April 5th, 2005 21:04
WOW! What a fabulously written article! Hammy you’re a wealth of information, and I only wish you could be in vegas to give me more personal advice on fashion.
Posted from: 68.19.190.177
April 5th, 2005 21:07
ryan, it’s nice to know i’m not the only person concerned with ties and tie fashion in the world.
thanks.
Posted from: 66.27.188.11
April 5th, 2005 21:41
LOL that men’s wherehouse thing is hilarious. And, I now know how to tie ties and can go Avril at nats. Or maybe I’ll heed all this phallic subtext and stay away.
Posted from: 66.27.188.11
April 5th, 2005 21:42
Wearhouse. I’m officially dumb. =)
Posted from: 68.104.26.169
April 5th, 2005 22:19
Garrett, you hardly need fashion advice, you stud.
Posted from: 204.147.92.3
April 5th, 2005 22:27
How about debaters completing the ensemble by not only correctly tying a tie for a debate round, but not rolling up the sleeves on the shirt and pretending like being casual helps increase your persuasion and professionalism?
Posted from: 172.193.70.13
April 5th, 2005 22:57
hamilton has it all wrong… at stanford i had a tie that went down to my inner thigh. it was a hit. who says you shouldnt go beyond the eblt buckle.
Posted from: 128.12.53.89
April 6th, 2005 00:17
Baskin you did NOT just hate on the rolled up sleeves.
Posted from: 68.237.235.197
April 6th, 2005 04:03
hamilton speaks truth.
Posted from: 209.11.48.2
April 6th, 2005 04:45
If this is not phallic then I have no clue what is….http://www.menswearhouse.com/how_to_tie/html/windsor6.html.
Posted from: 68.85.215.204
April 6th, 2005 06:38
Ryan complimented my tie dimple at the CBI =oD
Posted from: 131.229.177.243
April 6th, 2005 08:24
Who says ties can’t *also* be “ladies’ fashion”, Hamilton? You must come visit me at Smith sometime… ;)
Posted from: 24.6.254.4
April 6th, 2005 08:30
well Baskind doesn’t hate on the rolled up sleeves
Posted from: 143.229.110.223
April 6th, 2005 09:11
Just trying to prevent another flame war, but Ryan said “specifically” in terms of women’s fashion, which I assume didn’t rule out women wearing ties…
Anyway, nice column!
Posted from: 131.229.177.243
April 6th, 2005 09:29
Just teasing. I’m not always a nasty harpie, y’know. *grin* :-)
Can’t wait to hear what Ryan will say about lady’s stuff!
Posted from: 205.196.188.100
April 6th, 2005 11:03
if your belt buckle is gold with a big picture of texas in the middle, does the tie falling rule still apply?
Posted from: 170.215.98.117
April 6th, 2005 11:40
The very idea that people should wear ties is an arbitrary heterosexist norm that entrenches the objectification of women. I can’t believe you wrote this article, you insensitive monster.
Posted from: 129.15.111.111
April 6th, 2005 11:44
Here is a guide to knotting a bow tie (with pictures) http://www.ehow.com/how_2649_tie-bow-tie.html not as good as the guide ryan posted for knotting a regular tie, but it should get the job done. like bacardi and cola.
And when I am trying to show love for my phallus while also demonstrating my power and prestige it’s only XMI or Robert Talbott ties for me!
Posted from: 143.229.132.226
April 6th, 2005 12:03
Express Men all the way.
Posted from: 158.104.73.51
April 6th, 2005 13:01
XMI Platinum only…their Studio collection is too modern for my taste. Talbott Best of Class and Estate ties are fantastic. Nice work, Ryan.
Posted from: 204.147.92.3
April 6th, 2005 13:04
Yes I did hate on rolled-up shirt sleeves. Debate is still a formal activity. Between rounds feel free to wear whatever you like, but look like you are taking the round seriously by actually respecting the dress environment in the round. It’s just my pet-peeve but I know it’s shared by a great many people. Once graduated feel free to sit in a debate round wearing whatever ratty clothes you want.
Posted from: 129.15.110.95
April 6th, 2005 14:07
I left out Thomas Pink ties (and shirts). A wonderful London clothier brought to us by the magic of globalization.
They have a great mix of classic and modern styles and the shirts and ties are of a very high quality.
http://www.thomaspink.co.uk/ (the site is flash, which sucks, sorry)
Posted from: 63.230.30.85
April 6th, 2005 17:23
Thomas Pink is a fine shop, but I prefer T.M. Lewin. Their shop on Jermyn Street is like heaven. http://www.tmlewin.co.uk/ And through April everything is half-price.
Posted from: 67.169.157.170
April 6th, 2005 17:41
ever think that people roll up their sleeves because they’re hot, and having their sleeves rolled up would cool them down?
Posted from: 204.147.92.3
April 6th, 2005 20:11
I understand that sometimes they are hot but not at Blake in MINNESOTA in December they aren’t. Moreover, sometimes you have to suffer to be formal. At Oklahoma Nationals I had to be dressed up in 100 degree heat and I’m still alive, they’ll survive. If the room is REALLY that hot then at least ask the judge if it’s alright, it shows that you’re making an effort. I don’t think even I would have a problem with some of elim round rooms I judged at Nats last year having sleeves rolled up. I’m pretty sure the AC didn’t exist in the rooms, though the hallway was about ten degrees. Doing things like rolling your sleeves up just portrays the image that you are a lazy slob or just don’t care enough in the round. If you don’t care enough about impressing the judge to roll your sleeves down then why should I care enough to give you 30 speaker points and write a full ballot for sitting through the same round. It shows respect for the activity, which has slipped recently with some individuals, especially on the circuit.
Posted from: 69.203.144.21
April 6th, 2005 20:17
White and Hellerich write:
To laugh at the literal behavior of other characters in the social drama, is to change the truth value of what those characters do so as to undermine its seriousness, its claim to veracity, to authority, and so to call it into question. One must not laugh in church, or at the Emperor, for this would undermine its/his claim to power. “Laughter breaks up, breaks out, splashes over . . . ,” says Clément (33). This is why Dunkett’s Rat Trap is taken as a metaphor for the “trap” of metaphysics by Butler: the closed drain pipe of transcendent truth and the indissoluble bonds of “church” and “marriage”; yet the humor evoked by the story disarms the trap. So, also, to laugh at oneself is to undermine one’s own claim to seriousness, one’s claim to know the truth, to be substantial. Yet it is also to become a fabricator, a maker of new forms, in Haraway’s view, to become a Medusan “cyborg.”
Therefore, Jason is wrong.
Posted from: 204.147.92.3
April 6th, 2005 20:34
No, I’m not.
Posted from: 24.44.230.238
April 6th, 2005 20:56
How come every time Ryan gives fashion advice(good advice), the discussion always ends up going in some completely different direction?