Table Table of of Conten Contents Disclaimer Disclaim The Really Really Boring History Part: Where Neck N ecktties & Knots Come From From Patterns & Patterns & Knots: When & How How To Use the Right Knot Knot The Windsor Knot The Windsor Illustrated Illustrated Tying the Windsor, Step By Step Tips for Tying the Windsor The Eldredge Knot The Eldredge Illustrated The Eldredge Knot, Step By Step Tips to keep in mind
Table Table of of Conten Contents Disclaimer Disclaim The Really Really Boring History Part: Where Neck N ecktties & Knots Come From From Patterns & Patterns & Knots: When & How How To Use the Right Knot Knot The Windsor Knot The Windsor Illustrated Illustrated Tying the Windsor, Step By Step Tips for Tying the Windsor The Eldredge Knot The Eldredge Illustrated The Eldredge Knot, Step By Step Tips to keep in mind
The Ediety Knot (AKA, The Merovingian Knot) The Ediety Illustrated The Ediety Knot, Step By Step Tips for Tying the Ediety Knot The Trinity Knot The Trinity Illustrated The Trinity Knot, Step By Step Tips to Keep In Mind When Tying the Trinity The Atlantic Knot The Atlantic Illustrated The Atlantic Knot, Step By Step Tips to Keep in Mind for the Atlantic Knot The Han Knot (AKA, The Cape Knot)
The Han Illustrated Tying the Han/Cape Knot, Step By Step Tips for the Han/Cape Knot Video Resources
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The Really Boring History Part: Where Neckties & Knots Come From The modern necktie is actually pretty old. Let me bore you with a bit of history before we get into the real meat of this book, the knots. (If you want to skip to knots right now, tap here. I don't blame ou because history is reeeaaallly boring.) Mercenary Beginnings
What we call the "necktie" can be traced way back to 1618, when it was worn by mercenaries in the Thirty Years War - it was called the "cravat" and immediately caught the eye of the more stylis population in Paris (no surprises there) and spread around Europe. In the 1600s men wore cravats made out of lace, and it took them ages to tie and arrange a cravat just right . Eventually through the 1700s cravats gave way to a variation called the "Stock" which had a high, stiff collar - again, originally fro the military where the stiff nature of the Stock reminded soldiers they had to keep their chins up and look proper.
But the cravat was not gone forever, and through the 1800s it made a resurgence as fashionistas coming back to England from Italy brought it back with them and those heros of style being what they always have been, several books were published on the various ways to tie our cravat. It was also around this time that someone (c’mon, someone awesome) coined the word "tie" in connection wit the cravat. And it stuck. Into the Modern Age
'Round about 1860-ish the moder necktie as we know it today was born. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing and men wanted a fashionable style that didn't take long to put on, could be worn comfortably all day (Neckties comfortable? Well, when you're coming from the stiff, high collars of the 1820s…), and didn't loosen or untie as ou worked and went about your business on those newfangled stea engines. eckties as we know and love/hate the today basically go back this period. The first knots people tied were simple affairs, as were the neckties themselves: straight, thin, and usually black. The
common tie knot from this period was by today's standards pretty bland. In 1926, a man named Jesse Langdor (one of the few true heros of the necktie) invented a way of making ties by cutting them 'on the bias', or against the grain o the fabric, and then stitching the tie together in three segments - this was a true revelation because it gave the tie some elasticity and also made fall it straight and flat from the knot rather tha twisting. By the time the 20's were finished, the necktie was being made with the inner lining and stitching we see today. The 'slip stitch' was starting to be used in the tie at this point also, whic was another great milestone - it allowed
the fabric to move with the seams rather than stretch or even tear. I'll spare you the small, period style changes that have happened since the 20's, but will say that hand painted ties, vests, and waistlines all influenced how men wore a tie through the 30’s and up to the 50’s. Through the 60's fashion designers began to use bolder and brighter colors, and it was at this point also that clothiers began selling shirt/tie combos for the guys who didn't want to bother trying to match them themselves, and/or didn’t have a lady friend around to help them out.
The 80's made ties super skinny, but thankfully this didn't last because using a skinny tie really limits your choice of tie knots. But the 90's widened them out again and brought the full array of tie knots back into play. owadays, basically anything goes when it comes to neckties. You can wear our football team around your neck, or our favorites Looney Toons guy, or go old school and wear the Britis regimental stripes - basically, anything ou want to wear can be worn if yo have the chutzpa to pull it off. Sometimes more chutzpa is required for a certain tie, so be sure and vary either the amount of chutzpa or the style of tie
to make it work best. All this history aside, let me say this before we move on: The traditional styles like paisleys, stripes, and solids are absolutely the best choice when you start tying unique knots. The whole point of tying a cool knot is because it's cool, so you want people to notice it. Wearing a Marvin the Martian design makes people look at the Martian, not the knot, so save that tie for poker night. Some tie patterns work better with some knots rather than others. Which patterns work best with which knots? Turn the
page and we'll dig into that...
Patterns & Knots: When & How To Use the Right Knot Basically, the bolder the pattern on the tie the simpler the tie knot should be, and vice versa, the simpler the pattern the more complex a knot you can get away with. It’s not a hard and fast rule though, and i ou really like complex knots like The Eldredge then by all means tie it whenever you feel like tying it. Society isn’t going to demonize you if you pair a fancy knot with a really detailed or bold patterned tie - you’ll always be more
awesome than, say, Richard Simmons because Richard Simmons never wore a tie in the first place. It works best this way but it’s no big deal whichever knot ou use with whichever tie you choose. But if you want the knot to stand out, keep it in mind as you pick out a tie and tie the knot. People look at the boldest thing first - it’s why companies spend billions of dollars every year o marketing. It’s just how the human eye works, and it works that way for ties, too. If you have more detail in your knot the that’s where people are going to look,
and a detailed or bold tie pattern is going to detract from the attention people would otherwise give the knot. Also, complex tie knots have more folds and flips, which can get lost on a tie that has a pattern with a lot of detail. Solids absolutely work the best for these complex knots because you can easily see the folds of the knot itself. Use this handy dandy chart to make the most of both your ties and your tie knots:
As long as you remember the delicate, ballerina-like balance between knot and pattern you’ll be a stunner. I’m joking about the ballerina part. The guiding principle is: Complex knot with simple tie. Simple knot with complex tie. Done.
One more thing to keep in mind whe ou tie these knots: As with any tie tie knot, you want the front of the tie to fall basically halfway down your belt buckle. You won’t have it exact each time, but aim for the belt buckle and ou’ll hit it most of the time. The only knot where this doesn’t apply is the Ediety Knot, since that can easily wind up being much shorter at both the wide and thin ends (for this reason, only wear the Ediety Knot when you have a vest or suit to cover the bottom of the tie.) ow, the whole reason you got this book: Prepare to meet the awesomest tie
knots in the world.
The Windsor Knot
The Windsor is actually a fairly common
knot, at least in name (including the variations of Half and Full Windsor), but it can be a lot more complicated tha it needs to be with so many instructions for it online - and with a lot of people teaching variations of the knot, or eve passing off the Half Windsor as the regular or Full Windsor (the Hal Windsor skips one of the last loops and can look a bit lopsided and uneven). Learning to properly tie the Windsor will help you out quite a bit with the Ediety Knot later on. The Windsor is sometimes called the Double or Full Windsor and it’s one of the most enduring knots. It got it’s name in Great Britain, supposedly named for
the Duke of Windsor. It is also the ONLY knot used by all personnel in the Royal Air Force in black tie uniform because it’s such a dressy and formal looking knot. By contrast, Ian Fleming wrote that James Bond never trusted a man who wore a Windsor... but what did he know? The reason the Windsor is so enduring is because it’s so symmetrical. There’s no off-balance look to the knot - it’s very even, balanced, and full.
The Windsor Illustrated
Tying the Windsor, Step By Step
1. Put the tie around your neck with the wide end to your right side. It’s a normal-tied knot, so you need plenty of length on the wide end. The thi end, in fact, basically only needs to be long enough to stabilize the knot (about six inches long is fine). 2. Pass the wide end of the tie over the thin end and around the back, passing behin behind d the knot and and up throug rough the neck. Bring the wide end back dow front to the left side. 3. Pass the wide end around back fro
left to right. 4. From Step 3, bring the wide end up over the front on the right side and down through neck in the back. 5. Bring the wide end from Step 4 around the front of the tie from left to right. 6. Bring the wide part up through the neck from behind and over the front o the knot. 7. Pass the wide end through that front
loop you made in Step 5. 8. Tighten the knot up, center it on your neck, and fold the collar down. Done! Tips for Tying the Windsor
1. In Step 4, you can easily adjust the knot to be more symmetrical. You want the knot to be even on bot sides, and this is a key point in tying the knot where you can make a slight correction without getting to the end and having to untie everything. 2. Unlike the other knots in this book, you tie the Windsor with the wide end
of the tie. Which means you don’t adjust the wide end at the beginning and then tie the knot around it with the thin end. It’s a little tricky at first to get the length just right (about halfway down your belt buckle), but a little practice will let you know how muc length you need. 3. Keep in mind that with thicker knots, thicker fabric ties REALLY can get bulky. I’ve tied this knot with thin and medium ties, which work best. The really heavy ties tend to have trouble with twisting fabric (which can rui the tie) and the end result is a really bulky tie knot. The more bulk yo have in a knot, the more unbalanced it
can look.
The Eldredge Knot
The Eldredge and the Ediety (which is
up next) are the two most complex knots in this book - so reserve them for your simple pattern or solid ties to get the most bang out of them. The Eldredge is a thin-tied knot - whic means you hold the wide end of the tie where you want it to sit and then use the thin end to go through the motions o actually tying the knot.
The Eldredge Illustrated
The Eldredge Knot, Step By Step
The Eldredge looks fantastic when it’s well tied, and surprisingly it’s not that complicated to do - it’s a very easy knot to learn. 1. Adjust the front of the tie (wide end) on the left side a couple inches above where you want it to sit, which is at the belt buckle. 2. Using the thin end of the tie, cross over the front from right to left, and then come back behind from left to right.
3. Bring the thin end up the front over the right side of the knot and pass it dow behind through the neck. 4. Pull the thin end off to the bottom left of the knot and wrap it around the front of the knot. The tricky part is all done - from now on, you’ll just be passing the thin end back and fort until you have the herringbone effect of the knot. 5. From Step 4, bring the thin end up behind the knot through the neck and pass it over to the right side.
6. Bring the thin end behind the knot from right to left, and bring it up over the front of the knot, tucking underneath that loop on the front yo made in Step 5 (it’s like making a simple knot within the knot). Tighten it up a bit so everything lays flat. 7. Again, bring the thin end around the back to the front right of the tie, looping around the right neck part o the tie, and pull it back down behind the knot. 8. Bring the thin end down behind the knot to left side, and like in Step 6, up over the front of the knot but agai
passing it underneath the topmost loop - the one you just made in Step 7. Again, it’s like a simple knot-withina-knot. Tighten it down again so the knot lays flat. 9. Adjust the front of the tie, bringing the knot up to your neck and make sure it’s centered. 10. Holding the thin end wrapped up alongside your neck, fold the collar down so everything’s hidden underneath.
Tips to keep in mind
1. Adjust the wide end of the tie a little higher than you want it to be. This is because once the knot is done and yo tighten the knot up to your neck the front of the tie will lengthen. I give it a couple inches, but it depends o where you tie the knot (close to your neck or several inches away). Play around with which feels best and you’ll get to know how to adjust the tie at the beginning to have it end up where you want. 2.
Some have experimented wit wrapping the short end down throug the last loop on the back of the tie and
letting the thin end hang behind the wide end, like a ‘normal’ or regular tie knot. I don’t recommend this because it gives the tie a somewhat lopsided appearance on that last pass through the knot. 3. You’ll have to tie this knot a few times to get the finished lengt correct. That’s the biggest issue with the knot. After a few times, you’ll have a pretty good idea of where yo need to hold the wide end as you start the knot. It’s higher than you think at first! 4. The Eldredge does not work well
with a striped tie! That’s because the stripes wind up going in all different directions and the detail of the knot gets lost. For best results, use a plai solid tie.
The Ediety Knot (AKA, The Merovingian Knot)
The Eldredge and the Ediety are the most stunning knots you can tie - bot will leave the viewer with no idea how ou tied them, only that you must be a wizard for knowing how to do it. The Ediety is somewhat more complicated than the Eldredge, simply because it can be tied two ways: 1. You can tie the Full Windsor backwards, then loosen the knot (but don’t untie it), take the tie off, flip it over, put it back on, and tighten it up. 2. You can tie the knot as a whole new knot in itself - no flipping - which is the correct way I’ll be showing you.
The first method might work very well i ou already are very familiar with the Windsor. Just flip the tie when you’re done and voila! Ediety Knot! But in my opinion it’s best to keep each knot separate and learn the Ediety Knot as a knot in it’s own right. However, with that in mind, even when you tie the Ediety with the second method it’s still the basic moves of the Windsor so it should come quite naturally for you i ou’re familiar with that knot.
The Ediety Illustrated
The Ediety Knot, Step By Step
The fact that you’re aiming for the little end to wind up on the front of the knot can confuse some guys because it flies i the face of everything you know about tie knots. Just keep following the steps, check the illustrations, use the reference links to the video if you need to, and keep going. You’ll get it fine with a little practice. 1. Put the tie around your neck with the wide end to your right, and give it PLENTY of length because this knot eats just as much fabric as the Full Windsor.
2. Bring the wide end to the left under the thin end. 3. Bring it up over the front and the down through the neck, pulling it back to the left side. 4. Bring the wide end from left to right across the front of the tie. This is the part that makes that little mini-knot i the Ediety. 5. Bring it behind the knot on the right, up through the neck and back down to the front on the right side.
6. Bring the wide end around the back o the know from right to left. 7. Put the wide end up over the front o the knot and down through the neck, put pass it through that back loop yo just made in Step 6. 8. Tighten the knot up, center it good, and you’re all set! Tips for Tying the Ediety Knot 1 . Be sure and give yourself PLENTY (hey, there’s that word in all caps again!) of length on the wide end o the knot since there’s so many moves
in this knot. Leave it longer than yo think you’ll need, but within reason. As with all these knots, after a few times practicing it you’ll have it nailed down like a pro. 2. Be aware before that when you wear this knot you need to wear either a vest or a blazer/suit coat . The reason is because the bottom end o the tie don’t look pretty.. The short end can wind up being longer tha the wide end, or the tie can be really short on both ends and look more like a bib. Wearing a vest or blazer hides the bottom ends of the tie so no one sees them - all they see is the
awesome knot itself. 3 . A tie clip works great with this knot - clip the tie (both wide and thing ends) to your shirt, but pull them up a smidgeon so the tie is a bit puffy at up near the knot. Doing this makes it look more cravat.
The Trinity Knot
Like the Eldredge and the Ediety knots,
the Trinity is an eye catcher. Unlike those two knots, the Trinity isn’t a ‘tight’ knot. You need to keep things a little looser than you’re used to if you want the knot to work right.
The Trinity Illustrated
The Trinity Knot, Step By Step
Remember: Don’t tighten down the knot with each move like you do on other tie knots. Let the fabric fold more or less o it’s own to add the volume to the knot that it needs in order to look best. 1. With the thin end of the tie hanging down on the right side, bring it to the left side over the wide end. 2. Now the thin end goes up behind through the neck, and bring it down to the left. 3. Bring the thin end around the back o
the knot to the right side, then up over the front and down through the neck. 4. Now here’s where the knot starts taking shape: From Step 3, bring the thin end loosely around the front fro left to right, and up through neck fro behind the knot. 5. Carry the thin end over the top of the knot but tuck it through the loose front loop you made in Step 4, keeping this loop loose also. 6. After passing the thin end through the loose loop from Step 4, bring it
around behind the knot from left to right, and pass it over the top of the knot through the loose loop #2 yo made in Step 5. 7. Adjust the knot as needed to give it the Trinity shape, and tuck the thin end up under the collar with the neck band of the tie, and fold the collar down. Tips to Keep In Mind When Tying the 1 . Try and save this knot for your thicker ties. And by ‘thicker’ I mean ties that are a heavier material. The reason is that the Trinity needs to be tied a bit looser than normal knots,
and the heavier fabric lets the knot stay loose but still have body. Thin fabric ties don’t work well for the Trinity because they twist and dimple in the knot itself, which ruins the look of the knot altogether. 2 . As with other thin-tied knots, adjust the wide end of the tie up higher tha normal as you start tying the knot - a couple inches higher than normal is a good starting point if you want the finished tie to fall to your belt buckle. Practice and patience will teach you exactly where to adjust the wide end of the tie as you start the knot.
3 . Remember to tie the last three loops of the knot loosely - the Trinity needs the loops to have some volume to them. If you over tighten the knot, yo will get dimples on the three loops i the front, which ruins the look of the knot.
4 . The Trinity can work with striped ties pretty good - but depending whether you tie it left or right handed means you get either a pinwheel effect (stripes go out from the center of the knot) or a triangle effect (stripes go around the center). Experiment with both and see whic
one you like!
The Atlantic Knot
The Atlantic Knot is hands-down the
simplest knot you’ll learn in this book, but it works great with a heavy fabric tie and works wonders when you’re in a hurry and need something sharp and unusual. Like the Eldredge and the Trinity knots, the Atlantic is a thin-tied knot, meaning that just as with those two knots yo have to adjust the wide end of the tie before you begin tying the knot. The same as with the Trinity and Eldredge, keep it a couple inches above where yo want it to fall, which is usually at the belt buckle. As you tighten the knot the wide end, or front, of the tie will lengthen.
The Atlantic Illustrated
The Atlantic Knot, Step By Step
1. With the wide end of the tie around your neck on your right, adjust it a couple inches above where you want it to hang once it’s all tied. 2. Wrap the thin end over the top from left to right and up through the neck from behind the knot, bringing it dow on the opposite side on the left. 3. Bring the thin end around behind the knot from left to right. 4. Bring the thin end up over the front the knot and down through the neck,
passing through that loop you made i Step 3. 5. Cinch the knot up to your neck, and center it before you fold the collar down. Tips to Keep in Mind for the Atlantic
1. Tie the knot relatively loosely. This knot doesn’t eat as much of the tie as the others, so the thin end of the tie may end up falling lower than the wide end (not something you want!). Tying the knot loosely adds a bit more volume to the knot, making it look more substantial, and it also uses up
more of the length of the tie so yo can counter this problem.
The Han Knot (AKA, The Cape Knot)
From the best I can tell, the Han was first tied by a stylish gentleman named Henry Hu (the link to the original video he posted on YouTube is in the Resources chapter). Hu himself states he isn’t aware if it’s been tied before, but gives the name Han for the knot. It’s since made a surge in popularity o various websites, where it’s being called the Cape knot - whichever name is correct I don’t know but Cape is the more popular name. Both are relatively new knots. The Han, according Mr. Hu, was originally the result of trying to tie The Ediety Knot and getting it slightly wrong. However, the result is still a very unique
and cool knot - so let’s tie it up right and give it a proper place in the world of tie knots. The knot got the name Cape because it look like the knot has a little ‘cape’ behind it - A gentleman named Alex Krasny supplied this name. It’s a cool effect.
The Han Illustrated
Tying the Han/Cape Knot, Step By Ste
1. Place the tie around your neck, wit the thin end on your right side. Adjust the wide end of the tie a couple inches above where you want it to fall whe the knot is finished. This is a thin-tied knot, so you’ll be tying the knot wit the thin end of the tie. 2. Bring the thin end over the top of the knot to your left, and then up behind through the neck. 3. Bring the thin end down to your right side and pass it behind the knot to the left side, but continue around the front
of the knot back to the right side (yo just made a 180 degree loop around the knot). 4. Pass the thin end up behind the knot through the neck, and bring it down to the front on right side again. 5. Bring the thin end around the back to the left side, then up and over the knot and down through the neck. 6. Pass the thin end through that last loop on the back (the back loop you made in the beginning of Step 5.
7. Tighten up the knot and center it on your neck. Fold the collar down and you’re all set to go! Tips for the Han/Cape Knot
1. This knot doesn’t work well with a striped tie. As with the Eldredge knot, the stripes confuse the detail of the knot and the wow factor is almost completely lost. By all means tie wit stripes if for your own enjoyment but don’t expect many people to notice i you do.
Video Resources Atlantic Video How-to http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=x_fudDEG30o Ediety Video How-to http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qFdk-IT2cmg Eldredge Video How-to http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=EhqBCryhsHQ
