Necktie Knots

[Baron Kurtz]

that's a lovely combo, Jack. One of yours?

bk

 

[Senator Jack]

Thank you, BK. I just happened to be wearing it today.

 

[Jovan]

BLACK SHIRT!!!11

 

[Baron Kurtz]

see, you dark haired chaps can do the very high contrast thing. Lucky beggars.

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

BLACK SHIRT!!!11

looks good, don't it . . . ?

bk

 

[shindeco]

looks good, don't it . . . ?

bk

Sets off the tie beautifully! And a great example for his point about showing the emblem.

 

[Senator Jack]

The best part about that combo? These cufflinks I found out in Las Vegas. They fall right in with the tie.

 

[shindeco]

Those are absolutely BRILLIANT!!!!

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

The fact alone that you have a black shirt with double cuffs is of interest to me.

Not to mention those sweet cufflinks...


fftopic:

 

[Jovan]

What are those made of? The subtle herringbone weave is quite nice.

 

[Senator Jack]

Unfortunately, they seem to be made of plain old plastic. I'm going to assume they were for the tourist trade.

 

[Feraud]

What an amazing outfit S.J.! :eusa_clap

 

[Orgetorix]

If you have the means and inclination to acquire an entire rotation of bespoke shirts that all have the same perfectly-suited-to-your-face collar, and if you also have a wardrobe of bespoke ties that are made just to your specifications (length, width, shape, thickness of lining) and always tie just the same, perfect knot every time, then maybe you only need one tie knot.

However, this isn't the London Lounge; I very much doubt that this describes more than one or two FL members, if that many. Most, like myself, probably have a hodgepodge of different ties that are different in length, width, shape, and thickness, and shirts with a variety of different collar styles--I wear button-downs, point collars, club collars, and spreads from very moderate to almost-cutaway wide. Given that fact, I use a variety of different knots--4IH and half-windsor most of the time, and even the occasional Windsor.

This isn't to say that some collars/knots don't look good on certain people. It is to say that no tie knot looks good on nobody, nor does any knot look good on everybody, all the time.

 

[AlanC]

If you have the means and inclination to acquire an entire rotation of bespoke shirts that all have the same perfectly-suited-to-your-face collar, and if you also have a wardrobe of bespoke ties that are made just to your specifications (length, width, shape, thickness of lining) and always tie just the same, perfect knot every time, then maybe you only need one tie knot.

That's why you have both the FIH and the Prince Albert.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~tmf20/tieknots.shtml

Why be dogmatic about "the" right knot? Or even "the right knot for _____"?

Try something different...

 

[Alan Eardley]

Tie nirvana.

This week I achieved a sort of completion - the end of journey - in terms of my tie hobby.

As a child of the 1940s I have always been a tie wearer, but habitually I never used more than two or three knots - the 4IH for everyday and the 2 'Windsors' (which are not really Windsors) for more formal occasions.

Then, about seven years ago a mathematician colleague showed me a paper by a couple of condensed matter theorists at Cambridge University that treats ties as a mathematical topology problem [Fink, T.M.A. and Mao, Y. (2000) Tie knots, random walks and topology. Physica A, 276. Pp. 109-121].

It piqued my interest, but the notation was something of a deterrent for non-mathematicians such as myself. Then I found the book 'The 85 ways to tie a tie' [Fink and Mao (2001) Fourth Estate] that adopts a simpler notation to describe the knots. Don't worry, you don't have to read it, here's the website: http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~tmf20/tieknots.shtml.

I set out to practice and hopefully learn all 85 ways, doing one per week, when I was able. Well, this week I finally became proficient in the 85th knot, which does not have a name but is Lo Ci Lo Ci Lo Ci Lo Ri Co in the FM notation.

Now the only difficulty I have is remembering knots 1 to 84...

Alan

 

[Smithy]

Thanks Alan, fascinating number of knots there.

Don't know if I have the patience (or time) to learn more than the 4 "classics" I know but it is interesting to know that there are so many permutations in tying a tie.

Good luck with all 85!

 

[Dr Doran]

Wonderful link. The notation reminds me of Rubiks cube solving notation language I learned from a book when I was small.

 

[Fletch]

I can't translate the pictures easily into action, but No. 5 (Pratt/Shelby) is a useful substitute for the Windsor for those of us with short vintage ties and thick necks. It ties to a neat and compact triangle.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Pratt

Yes, the Pratt knot is one of Fink's favourites, I think. It does look like a Windsor. You can tell from the table that it is large and symetrical.

My favourite knot is the Nicky.

I still like my 'The Snapper' clip on ties, though...

Alan