Thursday, December 6, 2007

Delightful Asymmetry


I don't like the half-windsor and the other triangular necktie knots. They're just too regular for me. Instead, give me a slightly asymmetrical four in hand every day. The too-fashionable example in the photo from Robert Talbott is hardly irregular but it's the shape I like. Big enough to fill a cutaway collar but not too big for a tab.

Emulating the late Duke of Windsor, I have my neckties made a bit thicker than normal, so I get a knot about the same size as a half windsor. Or I'll loop the wide end of a ready-made necktie an extra time around the knot to make it a bit larger and shorten the ends at the same time. Either way, the tie hangs just slightly askew, and that degagé air is, in my opinion, the way it should be.

6 comments:

Nungesser said...

Will:

Is that warp around an extra time you refer also known as the Prince Albert knot?

Blake Wilbanks said...

I'm a big fan of the knots one now sees on NFL commentary shows, you know the ones that are as big as a small cat (wink!).

Will said...

Nungesser, I know it as the Victoria but the two are very similar. The Albert starts out in the opposite direction to the Victoria.

blackstone said...

Do you have any instructions on how to tie this knot?

Will said...

Blackstone, the knot in the photo is a four in hand. Google it, and you'll find diagrams in a dozen or more places.

levinid said...

This looks more like a knot shown on the website of Knize of Vienna. http://knize.at/en/content/3_8_5.html# On the website, it is called simply the "Knize" knot. Exactly the same knot we see on Marc Guyot's site http://www.marcguyot.com/2.aspx?sr=9

This knot is an excellent alternative to both four-in-hand and Victoria. Like they, it is asymmetrical and elongated but this knot, in my view, has more presence. It should fit any collar but will be especially good with a cutaway collar, in a situation where a four-in-hand would not be quite right. (A Windsor, of course, would never be considered anyway.)

 
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