Tying a man’s tie is not rocket science; some people make a big deal out of it, but practice really does make perfect – put in the effort and soon you will have people admiring your knot and asking for advice.
There are four basic styles of tying the knot:
- Four-in-hand Knot: This is the easiest of the four most commonly used necktie knots and is by far the commonest. It is a small tie knot that is suitable for most occasions and works well with shirts that have a narrow collar opening. But it is asymmetric, which does not look good on wide-collar shirts; and it uses very little of the tie’s length, which means it may not be suitable for the shorter man.
- Half-Windsor Knot: This is a symmetric knot, which makes it more suited to all kinds of shirt than the Four-in-hand knot and means that it looks more businesslike. It is however a bit more difficult to tie than the four-in-hand.
- Windsor Knot: Another symmetric knot, this uses a lot of the necktie and produces a large, triangular knot that looks good on wide-collar shirts and is ideally suited for ties of thin fabrics. The results look classic and professional. It is not suitable for narrow-collar shirts, though, and if you try it with a tie made of thick materials, the resulting knot will be too large.
- Pratt Knot: This is a symmetric knot with a size slightly larger than the Four-in-hand knot and slightly smaller than the half-Windsor. It does not look too wide or too narrow, and in theory it is suitable for most shirts and most occasions. But the back of the narrow end of the necktie faces up, which does not look good if it is not well hidden behind the wide end.