How to Tie a Bow Tie

Imagine there is a fabulous party coming up. You have got a golden opportunity to meet the who's who of your town. The only catch is that obviously it is a formal party. You are going to have to wear a bow tie. Bow tie is surely not my cup of tea, is certainly what some of you must be thinking. But hey, agreed that it is difficult to tie as compared to a necktie, but there is no rocket science to it! A bit of skill and dexterity is going to do the trick.

Tying a Bow Tie Step by Step

Step #1
Take the tie and adjust its length to suit and fit your neck size. Then lift up the collar of your shirt and put the tie around your neck. This will make the ends hang down in front. Remember that one end should be around 1 and a half inches lower than the other.

Step #2
Get the longer end across, behind and then finally over the shorter end, to form a single knot. Make sure that you pull your knot snugly around your neck.

Step #3
Now fold the end which is shorter at the point where the shape akin to hourglass of the bow begins to narrow into a bow. Simply put, the hourglass shape is the widest point of the shorter end. This bow has to be formed in the front. The bow should be held in the horizontal position at your neck.

Step #4
Again, get the longer end over and in front of the shorter one. Just as you folded the shorter end, similarly fold the longer end at the spot where the hourglass shape starts to narrow into a second bow.

Step #5
After you have made the second bow bring it under the first one. Follow that by tucking the second bow into the space behind the first. Finally adjust the shape of these two bows.

Interestingly this bow tie can be made with a regular necktie too! Want to learn to tie a bow tie with a necktie? Hang on!

Tying a Bow Tie With a Regular Tie

• Akin to the earlier procedure of tying a bow tie, drape the necktie around the back of your neck. The ends should be hanging over your shirt collar.
• Again, make sure you keep one end hanging lower than the other. For the right-handed people, the longer end has to be hanging over your left collarbone and it is vice versa for the left-handers.
• Cross the longer end over the shorter, pulling it underneath and through the middle of the hole formed as a result of that crossing. You might find this similar to tying a shoelace.
• Don't pull the longer end too tight. Let it hang slightly lose, but it should not slip out.
• Now fold the shorter end down its own length and hold it horizontally. While doing this make sure it touches your collarbone.
• The longer end now has to be pulled over it and it has to be tied gently. You are done with half of the bow.
• Do the same thing with the other half of the bow- longer end should be folded over its length and held gently. To avoid pulling the bow out, do not tug onto it.
• The folded end now should be tucked in the loop behind the squared shorter end. There will be a loop formed a result of the previous step in the back.
• the longer folded end in this loop should be tucked in this loop.
• Tie the knot by pulling both sides very gently.
• Finally check out in the mirror and adjust the bow tie if need be.

That's it! Knowing how to tie a bow tie is a handy skill, as it gives a nice, classic touch to your formals, right guys?