- Day 6 Suit (Blue Suit by Calvin Klein; Mustard Shirt by Calvin Klein; Stripe Tie by Jack Harper's
Got through the second week of suit-wearing with more or less flying colors. One of my classrooms, as I've mentioned, is really hot. One of my students (who was wearing shorts and a t-shirt) got a sick during class on Friday b/c of the heat, but I can't say I have all that much sympathy given that I was wearing ... you know ... a suit. Anyway, I think it is definitely paying off that I wore windbreakers and sweaters to teach every day during the summer. Good practice getting used to wearing lots of clothes in hot weather.
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about tie knots, because through two weeks, I think we've seen examples of all four of the knots I use on a regular basis. Most men, when they know how to tie a tie, use the four-in-hand knot (below), but, realistically, you should know somewhere from two to four knots (depending on your style). I've included some videos and some explanations below.
Basic Repertoire
Four-in-hand Knot
This is the basic tie knot. It's pretty easy to tie and remember the instructions (over, under, around, up, & through). It's also a useful knot when you're wearing a medium to narrow collared shirt. I don't use it all that often (although I was wearing it on Day 2), because the knot is asymmetrical and that bothers me.
Windsor Knot
The windsor (also erroneously referred to as the "half windsor") is a much better general purpose tie knot. With a fuller bodied tie such as the one I am wearing above, you can get that big banker / Kanye tie look that is very nice. It fills out a spread collar very well. That said, it also looks great with skinnier ties because, unlike the four-in-hand, it gives you a symmetrical knot (which is very important for my own lightly OCD tendencies).
Optional /Situational Knots
Bow Tie
If you wear bow ties (or want to wear them), you are going to have to learn to tie them yourself. Only losers wear clip-on ties (especially clip-on bow ties). Also, as my friend Jonathan Lord once pointed out, a tied bow tie never looks perfect, which makes girls want to mess with it (if you're into that sort of thing). In any case, as The Doctor says, "bow ties are cool". I wore this on Day 3.
Oriental Knot
I've decided that, in addition to bow ties, I'm wearing a number of knit ties this semester. Knit ties are a pain in the butt to tie, people. By being bulkier than a standard silk tie, often a knot (even a simple one like the four-in-hand) will end up very large. You need, in that case, to have a much smaller knot. The oriental, in that situation, is your answer. It's the simplest possible tie knot, and works very well with bulky, knit ties. Additionally, this knot was popular in the 1930s (or at least on BBC shows set in the 1930s), so if you want to have a tiny, symmetrical, neat-looking knot, consider learning the oriental knot. I wore this on Day 1.
