How to Wear a Tie Like a Boss

Posted By Ibropalic on Mar 8, 2016 | 0 comments

How To Tie a Tie

Ties are something, like shoes, where a lot of men tend to stumble. What makes ties difficult to wear properly are that there are so many moving parts. You have the knot, the length, the width, the fabric, the colour, etc. It’s a lot to think about, which is why most guys will pick a tie in the color that just matches their shirt and end things there.

While I understand that ties can be a pain, when done well they’re an extremely handsome addition to almost any look. There are ways to simplify the tie-wearing process, however, and make the tie work for you. When putting the tie on there are a few hard and fast rules that help you build your own fashion style.

Those rules don’t account for taste though, and that’s an area that’s always difficult. At the end of the day, if you struggle picking out the right tie there are a few easy rules to follow that will take the stressing out of it.

They are as follows:

• Keep to a width of around 3.5 inches. It’s not too wide, nor is it too skinny, and will work with almost every collar.

• Stick to a simple, dark colour palette. One great rule to follow is to choose lightly coloured shirts and darkly coloured ties. This will allow you to wear almost every shirt and tie you own together. Save for a few odd colour combinations, this is a foolproof way to shop and dress

• While you may be drawn to splashier patterns you’re much better off keeping to simple designs. Things like small horizontal stripes, polka dots, geometric patterns, or subtle texture differences are always in style and always easy to work with.

Now it’s time to cover the important portion of the article: wearing that tie like a damn boss. As I mentioned, there are a few hard and fast rules I follow and these are the best ways to look your best when you throw a tie on. They’re not anything that’s too difficult to follow but they will improve your look immeasurably.

The Tie Knot:

The tie knot is extremely important because it provides balance with your collar and overall look. Frequently, you see men with large tie knots thinking that’s the best way to go; I vehemently disagree with this line of thinking. A tie knot should be, again, working in concert with your collar size and lapels. These should all be similarly proportioned. My personal favourite knot is the four-in-hand. This is your most basic knot, and one that will work with any shirt collar.

Click the video below to see how its done

There are a few other things to keep in mind when tying a tie as well: first, be sure you cinch it up to the top of the shirt. It looks sloppy when you don’t and the whole point of wearing a tie is to avoid looking sloppy, especially if you’re just buying a tie for a job interview. Second, make sure you add a dimple to your knot.  This is very simple to do, and instruction videos can be found on YouTube easily.

Length of Your Tie:

The length of your tie is just as important as any other piece here. Too long and it looks stupid; too short and it looks, well, stupid. The top of your tie, whether it be a traditional tie or one of those fancy square-bottom numbers, should hit at the top of your belt/pants. It’s as simple as that. Non-negotiable.

Avoid Trends:

Photo Credit

Online you’ll see those elaborate knots, or ties that are extremely wide or narrow. Anything that strikes you as trendy or “of the moment” should be avoided. Ties are one of those accessories that are there to accent a look, not steal the show. By keeping things simple you won’t run in to any problems or be caught looking out of touch, or, you know, bad.

Picking a wearing a tie should actually be easy, it’s that we tend to overthink what goes into making them look good. Stick to simple colour and styles, simple knots, the correct length, and you won’t have any problem looking your best.

Keep things simple and you’ll always look good. Easy, right?