| The tie, it's been said, is a modern instrument for | | | | purpose. You may wear it to interviews, business |
| torture. To some men, wearing a tie is akin to | | | | meetings, and just about any other occasion. |
| putting a noose around the neck. It's | | | | Here's how to do the Windsor. |
| uncomfortable, it's constricting, and what's worse, | | | | 1. Put the designer tie around the neck. Make sure |
| it cannot be avoided. No, there is no avoiding the | | | | the skinny end and the thicker end hang on each |
| tie especially during formal events when men of all | | | | shoulder. It goes without saying, of course, that |
| ages only have two choices: dress up or stay | | | | your tie's label should be hidden from the outside |
| home. | | | | world. Your designer tie might be an Armani but |
| What makes the tie such a daunting article of | | | | really, there's no need to show this to one and |
| clothing for men? Is it because it literally has to be | | | | sundry. |
| tied around one's neck? Or is it because everyone | | | | 2. Adjust the length of the tie's skinny end. Make |
| - men and women alike - have limited skills where | | | | it shorter or longer according to the size of your |
| dealing with ties is concerned? Whether you went | | | | neck. As a rule of thumb, if you have to work |
| to prep school and have had to wear a tie every | | | | with a large neck, then the skinny end should |
| day of your gangly, adolescent life or had never | | | | hang longer on your shoulders compared to the |
| tried wearing a tie - much more a designer tie - | | | | thicker end which hangs on the opposite shoulder. |
| until the day you were forced to get a job, you | | | | If, on the other hand, you have a thin neck, the |
| still probably know only one way of tying a tie. | | | | thin and fat ends of your designer tie should hang |
| And odds are, you either learned it from your | | | | in equal lengths from your neck prior to the |
| daddy or from a friend who showed you how to | | | | making of the knot. |
| knot your tie once and then promptly left you to | | | | 3. Make an X that lies quite close to the neck by |
| your own devices. | | | | crossing the fat portion of your designer tie over |
| Love 'em or hate 'em, however, you could never | | | | its skinny end. |
| do without the tie. It's as much a part of the adult | | | | 4. Now it's time to make the first knot. Fold the |
| world as beer and bonuses. Still, if it's any | | | | bigger end around the smaller one. To do this, |
| consolation at all to you and all those designer ties | | | | loop the big end through your neck then pull your |
| you ended up mangling, it's better to learn how to | | | | tie's two ends slightly apart. You know you're |
| tie your tie late than never at all. This article will | | | | doing the right thing if the thinner end of your |
| save you from ruining what would have otherwise | | | | designer tie lies on one side of your body while |
| been a perfectly good ensemble with a wrongly | | | | the larger end lies on the other. |
| knotted designer tie. How? By teaching you the | | | | 5. Hold the bigger end of your designer tie. Then, |
| four classic ways of knotting a tie and when to | | | | fold this behind the first knot. Loop the bigger end |
| use each type of knot. | | | | your way, through the noose of the neck. This |
| The Windsor | | | | will form the second knot. Pull tight. You know |
| Often mistakenly called the double Windsor, the | | | | you're on the right track when your designer tie's |
| Windsor is probably the first knot you learn to | | | | label is visible to you from the larger end of the |
| make. It is the most traditional of the four knots | | | | tie. |
| and is the most versatile when it comes to | | | | |