How to tie a tie

8/16/2014

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About This Instructable

This is one of those essential man skills, up there with shaving, and hunting a wild
boar with a knife and a stick.

33,525 views

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59 favorites
Okay, the last one isn't as essential, unless you happen to be named Rambo and
are forced into the hills by a malicious sheriff, but you really should know how to tie
a tie.

jeffreyf
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I'm going to teach you how to tie the two most basic knots, the four in hand and a
mystery knot that I thought was a windsor, but which isn't. It is however better than
both the half and full windsor, as it's more symmetrical. Upon further investigation, it
seems closest to the Pratt knot, but unless someone can tell me differently, I'm just
going to call it the Jeff knot.

32

Bio: I like taking things apart and figuring

out how they work. I generally loose
interest after that.
More by jeffreyf

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Tags: tie a tie

four in hand

tie

how to

windsor

lsk_guide

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Step 1: The basics for both knots.....

How To Tie a Tie

by howtotieatieman

How to tie a tie: Full

Windsor
by aneel
How to tie a tie: Half
Windsor
by aneel
How to Tie a Tie (Double
Windsor)
by MarkYu
How to Tie a Half Windsor
Knot
by thetieteam

See More

Lift the collar of your shirt. Place the tie around you neck.
If you're right handed, you'll probably want the thin side on your left. If you're left
handed, the opposite.
The wide end should hang lower than the thin one. How much lower is going to
depend on the length of the tie, and on your height. Ultimately you'll get the feel for
it after bit of trial and error.

Step 2: Four in hand: the beginning

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Cross the wide side over the thin side, bring it around the back, and return it to the
front. You'll have made a full loop when you're done.

Step 3: Four in hand: up and through

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Pull the wide end up behind the loop you just made, and through the two halves of
the tie, as shown in the first photo.
Now take the wide end of the tie, and push it through the front part of the loop.
When you're done, it should look like the last picture.

Step 4: Four in hand: fishing touches

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Pull the wide end of the tie down, tightening the knot. Now grab the knot, and the
thin side of the tie (the one in the back) and pull upward on the knot to move the tie
higher on your neck.

Step 5: The mystery knot: the beginning

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Begin the Jeff knot just like the four in hand. In this case, since the knot is a bit
thicker and uses more of the tie fabric, you'll want the thin end to be higher up (ie,
the wide end will hang lower) than it did for the four in hand.
Cross the wide side over the thin side, then bring the wide end up behind the thin
side and over.

Step 6: The mystery knot: make a loop

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Bring the wide side back behind the thin side and back around front, making a
loop.

Step 7: The mystery knot: completing the knot

Just like the four in hand, bring the wide end up behind the the loop, and between
the two halves of the tie.
Put the wide end through the front part of the loop, and pull down.
Just as in step 4, grab the knot with one hand, the thin side with the other, and pull
the knot up to your collar.

Step 8: What to do with the back side and notes on length

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In all cases, the tie should hang at roughly the belt line and the knot should be fairly
flush with the collar. As I previously mentioned, you'll use the position/height of the
thin end relative to the wide one to determine final tie length, and it may take a few
tries to get it right. Even after 12 years of wearing ties, I rarely do it perfectly the
first attempt.
The back of the tie should never hang below the front. That's a fashion no-no. If no
matter what you do, you can't get the both the tie to end at the belt line and the
back of the tie to be shorter than the front, your tie is too long. Get a shorter tie.
(They do come in different lengths.)
Additionally, the back of the tie should never be flapping around. People used to
use tie pins or clips to make sure of this, but most ties today either have a specific
flap for the back part of the tie, or a label you can use in its stead.

Make Comment

afadhil

6 months ago

Reply

1 year ago

Reply

thanx

jocloud31

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The official notation for your mystery tie would be "Li Co Li Ro Li Co T" or "Left
in, Center out, Left in, Right out, Left in, Center out, Tie", which seems to be a
yet unnamed knot, according to
http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~tmf20/tieknots.shtml (searching for the exact
notation above will take you to it's spot on the page".
I like this knot, as it is a tidy, small, symmetrical knot. I'll support calling it the
"Jeff Knot"!

Void Schism

3 years ago

Reply

3 years ago

Reply

Ah! I thought that was a half windsor!

Well then, I've been tying a Jeff for years :)

Joanassie

The title of this step is fishing touches. Care to fix that, or should I attach
some fishing gear to it as if it's a hat?
Otherwise, a fine instructable.

mensties

4 years ago

Reply

Hi, thank you for your great post. I really appreciate the efforts you have
put here .It is interesting and helpful. Good luck with it!!!
http://www.ties-necktie.com/

Warlrosity

4 years ago

Reply

THANK YOU!! This one actully makes sense, and works! I stuffed up on
the first go but now I will try again!

nk97

5 years ago

Reply

Cool Instructable. Now I to can tie my new tie. Someone was going to
teach me but I got impatient.

steed1172

5 years ago

Reply

what is the difference between the "four in hand" and the "mystery knot"
if there is one anyways nice instructables (can tie my band new tie now .)

Ph3nomin0n

5 years ago

Reply

I used to tie my tie (ew) like this and its good in quick situations, however
I noticed it wasn't clean and professional looking. Ill be posting an
instructable soon on how to correctly tie a tie(ew again).

Pie_eata

5 years ago

Reply

thanks just tied my first tie (a Green Day American Idiot One at that :D)

ElectrickChick

6 years ago

Reply

6 years ago

Reply

6 years ago

Reply

Pretty Cool

wyvren cow

lol I just used that to tie a duct tape tie, thanks this really helped

dhruvgaara

thanx it was handy cuz i needed it for skool you are the best!

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lemonie

7 years ago

Reply

I have thoughs upon publishing 'How to tie a Dilbert tie', maybe I'll do it...

bobbyk881

lemonie

6 years ago

Reply

7 years ago

Reply

7 years ago

Reply

6 years ago

Reply

7 years ago

Reply

i wanna wear that that sound so cool

jeffreyf (author)

lemonie

With wire?

lemonie

jeffreyf

Yes

MR.KNEX

hey thanks i can finally tie a tie now.

aneel

I agree that the "Mystery" not is not the Half-Windsor or the Pratt. It's not
listed in The 85 Ways To Tie a Tie, probably because it doesn't meet
their symmetry criterion. If I am following the directions properly, it differs
from the Half-Windsor in that its first move is inside-out, rather than
outside-in, and the resulting knot has an extra loop around the left-hand
side.

jeffreyf (author)

aneel

7 years ago

Reply

I think you are following the directions correctly, though I find it a

lot more symmetrical than either the Windsor, Half Windsor, or
the Pratt. All of those result in a fairly lumpy knot, unless one's tie
is of very thin fabric. The mystery knot produces a slightly fuller
knot than the four in hand, but still results in a a smoother result
than the traditional Half Windsor method.

munkey_b0y

7 years ago

Reply

nice simple instructable. Just one problem, the 'windsor' you have
specified it actually only a half-windsor knot. A full windsor requires an
extra turn through the neck loop and is really tricky to get the shape right.
But it does command a little more repect in the office if you can get used
to it. You end up with a nice tight wide angled triangle for the knot that is
unmistakable. perhaps this would make a nice addition to this already
sound instructable.

jeffreyf (author)

munkey_b0y

7 years ago

Reply

Quite right! I somehow forgot to do the extra turn while

photographing. I'll update! (and get new pictures up shortly.)

just_jeepin

7 years ago

Reply

I've always just done the 'four in hand' and the knot always looks weird so I'll
have to practice the 'windsor'. As for the short end, I usually just tuck it into my
shirt (just down from the knot).

meddler

7 years ago

Reply

You know i've been wanting to learn how to do this for a long time
now,clip on ties are getting kind of lame for me. This is simple and
straight forward thanks for the info.

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