Interviews: How to tie a tie

Gentlemen, and possibly ladies. Some of you may be reading this article because you have an interview and you want to know how to make your tie look good. Others of you may be here because you have a significant other who is failing miserably at tying a tie and has an interview coming up soon. Whatever the reason may be, remember tying a tie takes practice and it takes even more practice to make it look good.

Whether you have a few weeks or a few months before your interview, start practicing now. Take a few minutes each week to practice tying your tie. This will not only help you get better at it but may help relieve a small portion of stress on the day of your interview.

there isn't much you need in order to start practicing tying your tie. The obvious item is the tie. Other additional items that may help is a collar shirt, a mirror, and a friend to tell you how it looks (feel free to e-mail me a picture and I will let you know what I think of your knot).

Time to get started. I was thinking of creating my own videos for this post, however, I remember a wonderful website called YouTube. It may be somewhat difficult to learn just from a video so I hunted down some diagrams that hopefully will be of some assistance to you.

There are a variety of ways to tie a tie. Just remember that not all ways are created equal. My personal favorite and the one that looks the best is the full Windsor. The full Windsor gives the tie a nice balanced look.  Other knots such as the Pratt knot makes the tie appear to be lopsided and uneven. Keep things like this in mind when choosing a knot for your tie.

Good Vs. Bad


Good



Bad

You are going to want to work the knot a little bit to get it more triangular looking like the ones in the above pictures.

Full Windsor

Like I said this is my favorite knot and looks the best. When it comes to rating this knot I would give it a 10/10. It doesn't get any better than this. This is going to be a bigger knot than half-Windsor or others so you may need the skinny end to be a little shorter. You will need to find out the right length for yourself and that is why it takes practice.

Picture



Diagram


Video

Keep in mind that these videos are teaching you how to tie the tie not how to make the knot look good. In fact, the completed product in both of these videos falls below the standard of looking good.





Half-Windsor


The half-Windsor is another nice knot. This may be good for a more causal outings or for someone who needs a little easier knot to tie. If done properly this can still look nice. This knot gets an 8.5/10 in my books.

Picture


Diagram

Video




 
Pratt (Shelby) Knot


I have never tied this knot but it seems to be a popular knot. From what I have seen of this know I would give it a slightly higher rating than the half-Windsor, 9/10. This is a good alternative to the full-Windsor, especially if you are looking for a smaller knot.

Picture





Diagram



Video






Hope these videos and instructions help you to get ready for your interview. Please ask any questions or suggestions in the comment box. Once again, if you want me to take a look at your knot send the photo my way and better yet if you want your knot posted to this page you can do the same!