Anyone here still using the old-fashioned neck decoration called a tie? If so then what knot do you use? I’ve noticed that in order to promote confidence and assertiveness the wide Windsor knot (requires a long tie) has become increasingly popular over the last ten years or so - especially among younger television presenters and bullish businessmen. In my day the Four-in-Hand and Half Windsor were the most common, but trendy young gentlemen now sport the once neglected Shelby and the flamboyant Double Windsor.

I don’t give a damn what anyone says the half windsor is where it is at. The wide Windsor might be popular and “promote confidience”, but that does not change the irrefutable fact (redundant right) that it’s a half step down from the bow ties clowns wear. Go with a Shelby that’s classy and chicks dig a Shelby (seriously there has to be some science behind it, it’s like vanilla that way).

Oh by the way I do wear a tie often. I can pull of bussiness regular, bussiness wierd, and bussiness punk all very well.

I can only do the Windsor knot but, thank God, I don’t have to wear ties anymore. In South Africa, with it’s hot climate, wearing a tie is almost like wearing a swimsuit at the South Pole. The only people here who still wear ties are the upcoming natives. They believe a tie makes them look important. I don’t have to LOOK important, I KNOW I’m important because I use snuff.

I can’t make any tie knots and wear suits only for funerals, which have been numerous lately. I have ladies to knot my ties. I really like Iranian president Ahmadinejad’s fashion sense.

If…and that’s a big if, I wear a tie, I resort to the hand-tied bow tie. When you work on equipment as much as me (even when I would normally not have to worry about it…i.e. random formal events…I usually get dragged into fixing something everyday including changing a fan belt in the rain in a full formal suit) those long things are strangulation waiting to happen.

an old boss of mine wore a bowtie to work . he was in construction in california so he wore work boots . shorts . short sleeve white shirt and a bow tie . he told me he could charge $10 more per hour when he wore the bow tie . think he is still the only person i have ever seen on a jobsite wearing a bowtie strange

I was toying with the idea of getting a bow tie, like these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\\_of\\_bow\\_tie\\_wearers

Before I retired, I used to wear a suit and tie - a good double Windsor knot. It’s pretty much required in the banking sector where image is important.

Haven’t worn a tie since my Highschool Graduation in the 70’s. not much since in it while I’m working on Cars, lol. the only slacks I have are a pair of Khakis. No suits unless you want to count the one I got married in, back in 77. It is so out of style I realy couldn’t wear it unless I was going to a Maskerade (sp) party.

Four in the hand all the way!

As a boy, I wore cross ties, then a Windser tied knot, now I wear a black string tie if the occasion for dress up arises.

I can only tie a half-Windsor (being a bloody Yank) and only wear a tie to weddings and funerals, and not even then if I can avoid it. I admire a person who can wear a tie and pull it off, but on me they feel alien, much like wearing a ballcap…

I wear a tie every day, I feel somewhat underdressed without one. Generally I use the small knot or four in hand, but on occasion will go for a Windsor or Prince Albert. @PhilipS: I’ve not heard of the Shelby - how is that done?

@toffeenose - the “Shelby” is also called the “Pratt”. In British parlance, a “pratt” isn’t a good thing… The half-Windsor is by far the very best knot of all possible tie knots. It is formal enough (more so than the 4 in hand) for any occasion, while not being overly large or associated with stodgy old guys like the full Windsor. It works for almost any regular tie (no extra-long ties required). It rocks in every way. It is just coincidental that it is also the only knot I know how to tie…

Double Windsor.

@Geraldo: Thanks for the info (and being British myself I know exactly what a pratt is, having to deal with a number of them in the shop where I work…!). I just found a few YouTube videos on how to tie the Shelby/Pratt and other knots, and have decided to become more adventurous with my tie knots! I’m now sporting a Full Windsor, and will try the Shelby tomorrow at a do I have to attend. No-one will notice probably, but that isn’t the point, is it?

Half-Windsor is the only one I know how to tie too, and it’s been so long I’m not sure I could still do it… I don’t even own a sport coat that fits anymore! How’s that for going OT in an OT thread? My biggest irritation about wearing ties is those people who don’t get the knot centered on the collar. That just bugs the hell out of me.

It bothers you when people have brain damage ddavelarsen.

Naw; I have brain damage from a life of overindulgence, I’d be that last to hold that against anyone.

I don’t wear ties but if I had to start I think id sport a bolo style.

Bolo ties rock, but I haven’t worn one for years. Last time I did, I got a lot of … comments. Seems even eccentric people can still take it a bit too far sometimes. I have a great sterling silver rattlesnake bolo with turquoise eyes that I just love. It was my grandfather’s.

I think if I had to do it, I’d wear a cravat and stickpin. Just to throw people off…

Ties are of tha Debbil…i refuse to wear one. Unless tha wife makes me of course!! : (

@James S., I’ve got a couple of cravats. I wear them during the winter out of my own free will!

Every schoolboy in Britain wears a tie as part of a compulsory school uniform. In keeping with lax and lazy standards many ties come ready knotted with a piece of elastic that is simply slipped around the collar. Shoes are often unlaced, having a piece of velcro to fasten the shoe in lieu of shoelaces. Consequently many boys reach adulthood with excellent anti-social skills, but clueless about knotting a tie or tying shoelaces. (At least your lace-up shoes and ties won’t be nicked). By contrast Eton College (former school to nineteen prime ministers and umpteen royals) stipulates black tailcoat with waistcoat, pinstriped trousers, black leather lace-ups and the famous detachable Eton collar with silk tie or cravat . The basic uniform costs at least £1,000. Scholars still wear archaic gowns, but boys (except monitors) no longer have to wear silk top hats - just a banded straw boater in summer. The boys then go to the best universities, have affluent careers, and can afford to send their children to the same schools to repeat the cycle. Whatever happened to the supposed meritocracy in Britain? The doctors despaired of it from the start, and since the 1980s it seems to have quietly died, and now remains buried in a pauper‘s grave. Almost everyone who is anyone in today’s Britain went to a fee-paying school like Eton. Bring back the grammar school and schools where boys can learn to make manufactured goods again. Britain can then start exporting more than hedge funds, whisky and snuff and import a little less. BTW - Even Britain’s feeble exports are better than Ireland’s, which now seem limited to a sack of potatoes, a shillelagh and several felt hats.

@ PhilipS. A thought for the day, but I’ll take it with a pinch of Wilsons Camphor & Mild snuff.

@pieterClaassen I also have been known to wear a cravat. Bravo to you sir.

Haven’t worn or owned a tie in years. No one does in Hawaii. Even when I go to something formal on the mainland, I just wear an extra nice aloha shirt. If anyone has a problem with it, I tell them to respect my culture.