Tying a Windsor Knot

A tie remains a curious feature of the standard executive attire. At a functionality level, the necktie serves no real purpose in a man's attire but survives due to its decorative purpose, more than anything else. One cannot escape from the clutches of conformity and willingly or unwillingly one must learn how to tie a Windsor knot in order to appear 'presentable'!

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of talking about how to tie a Windsor knot, here is some interesting trivia. It has been mathematically proved by Thomas Fink and Yong Mao that there cannot be more than 85 proper ways of tying a necktie! Out of which, only 9 ways lead to a symmetrically knotted tie. These include the four traditional types of knotted ties which are: 'Windsor', 'Half Windsor', 'Pratt' and 'Four In Hand'. The good news is that out of the 85 ways, you only need to know one! We won't be focusing on tying a half Windsor knot but only on tying the Windsor knot in this article.

Simple Instructions For Tying a Windsor Knot Tie

The Windsor knot is named after one of the Dukes of Windsor from the British royalty (which explains the capital 'W'). There is confusion whether it was named after Edward VIII or his grandfather Edward VII. However, you need not worry about it as long as you know how to tie a Windsor knot! Tying a full Windsor knot is equivalent to tying a double Windsor knot as a full or double Windsor is the same thing! Now, that we have considered the social compulsions, mathematical subtleties and historical origins of the Windsor knot style of wearing a tie, we could get down to the essentials. Here is a simple way explaining how to tie a Windsor knot.

The things you will need to learn how to tie a Windsor knot are one piece of standard sized tie (preferably a non-atrocious colored one) and a full man sized mirror clean enough so that you can see your subtle moves to tie the Windsor knot!

Wear your shirt and button it up till the collar and lift the collar up. Let us begin with the method of tying a Windsor knot. The tie in your hand, as you will observe, has two ends. One is a wide end and the other one is the narrow end. Firstly, the starting position must be explained. Lay out the tie around the neck in such a fashion that the wide end comes on your right side and the narrow one on the left. Make sure that the wide end extends about 12 inches lower than the narrow end. This is the standard starting position for most tie maneuvers.

Begin with crossing the wide end of the tie over the narrow end and then inserting it through the loop created in between. Then bring the wider end of the tie down, out of the loop and then put it behind the narrow end, before bringing it up on the right hand side.

This wider end of the tie that you have brought up on the right should be reinserted down inside the loop next. Then pull it down tight. Breathe in a deep breath and heave a sigh of relief. More than half of your job is over and you are only three moves away from the perfect Windsor knot.

Next, turn the wider end of the tie across the narrow one and insert it through the loop and hold it high. Last step is inserting the wide end into the knot you see in front of you to create a perfect Windsor knot. Tighten the whole knot and draw it up in such a fashion that it reaches the collar. Then fold the collar and you are done with the job.

Hope, this article has left you in no doubt as to how to tie a Windsor knot! Practice in front of the mirror is inevitable to master the esoteric art of tying a tie. Repeat the steps until you can tie one in your sleep!