Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette! In today's video, we'll show you how to
tie the three easiest tie knots, how to combine them with the right type of
shirt collar no matter if you use a knit tie,
a thin tie, or very thick tie.
The tie knot is a visual focal point in your
outfit, trying to put the other person's eyes focusing on your face. Because of
that, it's important to know how to tie a right tie knot that works well for your
face so it flatters your whole appearance. Whether you are just getting started
with tie knots or if you need a little refresher because you've now an upcoming
interview, this video's for you. We'll cover the four in hand knot, the
Oriental knot, as well as the Kelvin knot. I wear these three tie knots regularly
but which tie knot to choose depends on what kind of shirt you have and what kind
of tie you have. So let's figure out how to choose the right tie knot for the tie
and a shirt collar you have. First, I would start with a shirt style and a collar
because once you have that, it's easy to choose an accompanying tie knot because
the tie knot is something that's up to you versus the shirt collar is something
that you have and you can't just change. Think about the shirt collar as a partner
to your tie knot and the tie knot is flexible, the shirt collar is not. That
being said, for example, if you have a really large Windsor knot with a
classic collar, it just looks weird, likewise, if you wear an oriental knot or
a four in hand knot with a super spread collar,
it looks off too because you see a lot of the tie on the side of the knot. Now
on the flip side, if you want your tie knot to look good with your collar, you
have to make sure that the knot fills up the space that is left in between
your collar. Ideally, you should just see the knot, there should not be any excess
band that is visible on the side. Likewise, the knot shouldn't be so big
that it's partially covered up by your shirt collar. Now, a little bit of
cover-up is okay but if you have a huge cover-up it just looks weird.
So today, I picked a medium spread collar shirt and I chose a Kelvin knot with
a medium thick tie. You can see the tie knot ends just underneath the collar
which is ideal because it fills out the space without being overlapped too much.
The tie you choose will have a huge impact and how your knot looks. If you
choose a thinner tie, you will get a thinner knot, a thicker tie will result
in a thicker or bigger knot. Of course, that's not the end of it. It also depends
on what type of tie knot you choose. So a thin tie paired with the Oriental
knot will yield a very tiny tie knot. On the other hand, if you have medium thick tie, maybe
you go with a Kelvin one because you go with a loop once around which makes your
knot a little bigger but it's all about keeping the balance. As you can see,
there's no absolute right or wrong, there's just the right size tie knot for
your shirt collar. As you build up a shirt wardrobe, over time, you will
understand what type of a knot size you need for each shirt collar and then you
can pick the right tie size and maybe one day, you want to wear a double
Windsor, other days, you want to wear a four-in-hand and so you can grab the
right tie at the right time. So now that you know how the shirt-collar,
the tie thickness, the tie knot work together, let's take a look at the three
easiest tie knots starting with the Oriental. In general, I would say get a
more classic collar with a medium spread, definitely not a wide spread because it's
a very small knot. Because of that, it's also great to be worn with a collar pin or a
collar clip because it doesn't take up too much space.
First, the slimmer end has to be on your right side,
the wide end has to on your left side. Position the right end so it's much
longer than the short end. Typically, for me, the short end ends about a hand
width above my pant's waistband. Now, cross the slim end over the wide end
with the seam facing up. Pinch the intersection of the two sides with your
left index finger and thumb. Fold the wider end over the intersection and
your pinched fingers. Wrap it around and pull it snug. Now, take the wide end
and insert it between the gap between your collar and the tie. Pull
it through and then insert the tip of the wide end into the top layer of the
knot. Hold the knot while you pull it all the way through gently. Before finally
tightening the knot, make sure there's a little pinch of fabric on top of the
long part of the tie so you get a dimple.
What's a tie dimple? It's a little pinch in your tie that is an intentional
crease. It's there because it breaks the light and makes it look elegant in a
certain way, highlighting the non symmetrical nature of your tie knot and
the nonchalance of your outfit. Once the knot, adjust the dimple so you like it
and now, it's time to pull up the knot. Just pull on the shorter end with your
right hand while holding the tie knot with your left hand. Some people like to
put the slim end through a keeper, personally, I prefer not to do that
because it's a little more casually elegant that way. Of course, if you want, you
can also wear a tie bar with it, that way, your tie stays straight all day.
Next up, let's look at a four-in-hand knot. It is probably one of my favorite
knots because it's asymmetrical and it's very simple to tie so it works with most
medium thick and thicker ties. It's also my knot of choice for knit ties because
anything bigger is just too dramatic and big. Even though there are dozens of
possible tie knots out there, the four in hand is probably the most popular around
the world. Now, it is very similar to an oriental but it starts with the seam side
facing down towards your chest or neck. Just like the oriental, it's also great for
collar pins and collar clips because it's very small too. First, drape the tie
around your neck with the wide end on the left side and the thin end on your right
side. Again, you want to adjust the length so the slim end is shorter. Typically. it
ends about a hand width above my pant's waistband. Now, cross the wide end over
the slim end with the seam facing towards your chest.
Now, pinch the intersection, wrap the wider end once around, 360 degrees.
This will form an opening over your left index finger. Now, you can pull the wide
end from behind, pull all the way through
and then put it through that hole you just created. Now, with your right index
finger and thumb, hold the knot and with your left hand, pull the wide end through
that little knot. Before finally tightening the knot, pinch the top part so
you get that desired dimple then pull the knot tight and ultimately, hold it
with your left hand and with your right hand pulling the slimmer end, wiggle it
up so it fits neatly in the desired collar space. You don't want it to be more
on one side or the other, you want it right in the middle so it's not
overlapped and it looks neat. Again, this is an asymmetrical knot so depending on
the tie you have, it may look more asymmetrical but that's desired, that's
part of the look. The third tie knot is the kelvin knot.
It's basically an oriental knot, it's more voluminous because you wrap the tie
around once more thus giving you a bigger knot. Again, drape the tie around
your neck with the wider end on your left, the shorter end on your right. Again,
adjust the length so the slimmer end is about a hand width above your pant's
waistband. Of course, the slim end over the wide end and pinch it with your index
finger. Fold the wider end over the intersection
of your pinched fingers and go once around and pull it really tight. Now, once
again, pinch that part with your thumb and index finger of your left hand. Now,
wrap the wide end around once more, come through the back and pull it up gently.
Now, you take the wider end and you stuff it through the hole you just created,
pull it down. You do that while you have your left hand holding the knot and
with your right hand, you pull on the wider end and pull it through.
It's important that you pull that wide end through, just that one loop, not a
double loop, otherwise, your knot might look odd because there will be two layers that
can be seen. Now it's the same thing as before, make sure there's a little crease
in the end so you get that desired dimple and then once the knot is tight,
pull it up. Once the tie is fully tied, you ideally want the wide end and the slim
end to be exactly the same length ending at about the middle of your belt buckle.
Sometimes, it can be a little shorter sometimes it can be a little longer. Now,
if you're a tall guy and you have a long torso, you will need a longer tie. If
you're a shorter gentleman, you need a shorter tie. We, at Fort Belvedere, understand
that different men need different tie lengths and so all of our threefold ties come
in short, regular, and long so you can find the right tie for your needs. All
ties we use in this video today can be purchased in our shop here or we also
have a lot of other ties. If you want to learn more about the hallmarks of a
quality tie please check out this video here. If you want to learn how to store a
tie, you can check out this one. Alright now that you know the three easiest tie
knots and you understand how you have to pair them with your collar shape, you're
ready to go to a cocktail night, to a business interview, or just any other
occasion where a tie is required or desired. In today's video, I am wearing a white
dress shirt with a medium to classic spread collar. I'm combining it with an
interesting tie in turquoise and orange with a diamond pattern that is printed
by Fort Belvedere which you can find in our shop here. It's tied with a kelvin knot
which perfectly fills out that space of my collar.
It's then paired with a vintage cashmere blazer from Sulka, it is navy, has patch
pockets and white mother-of-pearl buttons. The pocket square picks up the
white color of the dress shirt and has a navy-blue ex cross stitch which
ties the whole outfit together but highlighting the handwork with that
unusual cross stitch. It's also from Fort Belvedere
you can find it in our shop here. The pants are a grey Prince of Wales check
with a red over plaid, they're vintage Polo and they pick up the red color of
the tie. My shoes are burgundy or ox blood penny loafers and I'm combining
them with a burgundy red belt with a silver palladium plated buckle as it
goes well with the red silver combination of my ring