Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today’s video, we show you how to tie a formal daywear ascot which is also known
sometimes as the cravat.
It's an item with a very vintage aesthetic and it's particularly popular in Britain.
We can still see worn for weddings, or at Royal Ascot when people wear morning wear
with a top hat and a proper type Ascot.
Now you remember, we already discussed how to wear an ascot and how to tie one in the
past but that was the casual ascot.
What's the difference between a formal ascot and a casual ascot?
One thing that stands out immediately is the shape.
The formal Ascot is quite wide and has a slim band that's consistent in the middle which
is something that will be around your neck.
Basically, it has the same shape on both ends.
A casual ascot is similar in the shape, however, it usually has a kind of folded neck band
which is worn around the neck.
The other difference is that a casual ascot is just silk and there's no interlining.
On the other hand, a proper formal Ascot is much stiffer because you want it to hold a
shape and a fold of the knot you want because of that, it's silk with the interlining which
makes it thicker and more robust in terms of keeping its shape.
Another important distinction is that the casual ascot is worn inside of your shirt
and it pops up from underneath your unbuttoned top shirt collar and the formal daywear ascot
is worn in the way you can see here right now, it is more on the outside of the shirt
and it is perfectly worn with a wing collar.
Now where can you find ascots?
We offer casual ascots in our shop and we are one of the very few stores in the world
that carries formal ascots.
Ours is made of high quality Italian wedding silk and so it is the perfect item for a formal
wedding, or a day at the Royal Ascot at the races.
If you want to, you can keep everything in place with a stick pin and I'm going to show
you how to use it later.
A formal ascot is probably the most formal piece of silk neckwear that you can wear and
you can pull it off the proper way.
It’s extremely elegant and debonair.
Some people like the Victorian flair of it because it was very popular around the Fin
De Siècle and the early days of the 20th century.
So how do you tie it?
Basically there are two ways.
The first one is the more popular one mostly seen at wedding parties.
It’s basically like a four in hand just with a slight adaptation.
What you can see me wearing right now is the proper formal or Victorian way to tie an ascot.
Usually, it incorporates a tie stick pin and I'll show you how to use that in the end.
First, let us start with the more popular way to tie a formal ascot which is similar
to a four in hand knot.
To learn more about the four in hand knot for a regular necktie, please check out this
video here.
Also, if you think that a formal Ascot is simply too much for you, you can get our regular
three fold ties in the same wedding silks in our shop as well, please take a look.
Of course, if you decide to go with a formal ascot you always want to go with a detachable
winged collar and not with a turndown collar.
It would simply look odd.
Alright, here's how you tie the formal Ascot the more popular way.
First, find the label in the middle of the formal ascot and place it firmly against the
back of your neck.
Second, you don't want both sides to be at the same length so you pull on the right side
until it's about 4 to 5 inches longer which is about 10 to 12 and a half centimeters.
Ideally, you want the formal ascot to be very wide on the left side and very slim on the
right side.
Now you take the slim end from the right, fold it diagonally over the left, with your
left hand take the part that you just fold it over and bring it back to the original
side, pull it a little snug.
Now again, bring that end that you just brought to the right and fold it over once more around
to create what will be the knot.
Now with your left hand, you take the tip go back behind and push it up from the back
so it comes out on top.
Pull a little bit so your knot tightens up a little bit.
Just like a regular four in hand knot, you take the tip now and push it through the hole
that you just created.
Ideally, you want to pull up and push up that knot a little bit so you create some wrinkles
and so it doesn't look like a regular necktie.
You'll also notice it's much bigger and that's okay.
Once you've done that, simply pull on the long end in the back and adjust the knot until
it sits snugly against your collar.
Ss you can see, the front end is much shorter than the back end and it looks kind of odd,
however, you only wear a formal Ascot with a formal waistcoat or a vest.
So as a final step, you simply have to tuck it into your vest and it looks great.
Voila!
the popular way to tie a formal Ascot.
If you're not wearing it at the end of the day, simply unravel the knot in the opposite
way you tied it which means you pull through the front part first and unwind it, very simple.
Now a second way to tie a formal Ascot and which I consider to be the more proper way,
more formal way, is this.
(traditional)
First, locate the label in the middle of the formal Ascot and place it firmly against your
shirt collar.
Once again, you pull the right side slightly longer about three to four inches or seven
and a half to 10 centimeters.
Now the right side is folded over the left side and then brought up through the hole
that you just created in the back.
Now the part that you just pull through should be in your right hand and the other part should
hang straight down.
Now you take the part that just hangs down with your left hand and point it to your right.
Subsequently, you take the piece in your right hand and you just pull through and fold it
over so now it's points downwards.
Once you're done with that, you take the point that hangs down vertically and bring it up
through the loop you just created from underneath.
Once we got it through the hole, you pull firmly on both ends of the formal ascot.
You can adjust the knot a little bit and you can see it creates a horizontal knot with
some wrinkles.
Now ideally, you want to take the item on the left and have it point to the right, and
the item from the right point over to the left.
Basically, the two ends cross each other.
Now that you have folded over both ends in an X shape, you can tuck them into your waistcoat,
keep adjusting until you like the look.
Now it's time for a tie stick pin.
A tie stick pin is a simple pin that is decorative.
The most traditional thing is maybe a pearl, but you can also have maybe a knot, or any
other kind of precious or semi-precious stone.
The easiest way to find one is at vintage stores, flea markets, or on eBay.
Now you want the decorative element of your tie stick pin to be exactly in the middle
when you look at it from the front and about two to three maybe four inches below the knot.
Don't have it too low and not too close to the knot.
You can use the gorge of your morning coat lapel for a good indicator on where you want
it to sit.
What I’m wearing here right now is the proper way to do it, don't go lower and they'll go
further up.
If you're right-handed, hold the ascot up with your left and poke through the tie stick
pin through the silk knot.
Now that you poked through silk, carefully poke it through the middle of your shirt fly
and back out to the front.
That way, the pointy end of the tie stick pin is against your skin, you won't hurt yourself,
and it's on the top part of the fly.
Not only is it a decorative item, but it also keeps your formal ascot in place all day no
matter if you run, dance, or celebrate because your horse just won.
Now that you know how to tie a formal Ascot, please check out the selection we have in
our shop.
You can also find all sorts of our neck wear including bow ties, casual ascots, and neckties.
in today's video I'm wearing a silk top-hat which is vintage from Germany and exactly
in my head shape and size my morning coat is vintage and from Moss bros and quality
back then was a lot better than it is today my pants are cashmere stripe trousers in black
and gray they don't have cuffs which is important for morning wear and wear them with black
balmoral boots with a black suede insert and I spice things up a little bit with a light
gray contrasting pair of boot laces from Fort Belvedere which you can find at our shop here
my waistcoat is custom tailored for me from a bottle green velvet it's double-breasted
and it overlaps nicely and closes rather high that way you don't see a lot of the shirt
front the shirt is a plain white cotton shirt with buttons not with studs and it has a detachable
collar it's important that you have a detachable wing collar or a stiff collar that is not
a turndown collar tie stickpin I'm wearing is a simple pearl and it keeps everything
in place and adds a dapper look to my outfit my pocket square is a simple plain white pocket
square with my initial from Fort Belvedere and it has hand rolled edges and you can find
it in our shop here the same is true for a boutonniere which is a silk flower which looks
like a real one but it won't wilt all day and it will just always dapper to learn more
about how these little pieces of art are made please check out this video here the formal
escort I'm wearing has a black and silver basket weave pattern and you can find it out
our shop here we also offer different patterns all made of what is called a wedding silk
which are jacquard weaves that consists of black and silver silk and they're extremely
elegant made for formal day wear and it's exactly what you want when you wear a morning
coat if a formal ascot is simply too much for you you don't want to overdo it maybe
skip the top hat simply go with a regular necktie in the same wedding patterns as a
formal ascots and again you can find them in our shop here last but not least if you
want you can go with a of unlined gloves that's just these gray ones from Fort Belvedere alternatively
you could go in blue or red if you want to be a little bolder and you can find all those
online gloves in our shop here as well