How to Tie a Tie
Tie a four-in-hand knot in six steps, add a dimple under the knot, and fix a tie that ends up too long or too short.
There are dozens of tie knots: Windsor, half-Windsor, Pratt, Kelvin, and many more. You need to know one, and it should be the four-in-hand. It works with any tie width and any occasion from job interviews to weddings to funerals, and with every collar, although a half-Windsor fills a very wide spread collar better.
It is also quick to learn, with a single wrap before the tuck. It produces a slightly asymmetric knot with a narrow profile, which we find looks more relaxed than a perfectly symmetrical Windsor.
We wore clip-on ties to our first three job interviews before someone finally taught us this. You will end up with a neat four-in-hand, dimpled and snug against your collar. Give it 5 minutes of practice in front of a mirror.
A necktie and a mirror. The mirror is essential while learning. Once the motions stick, you can tie it by feel.
Drape the tie with the wide end lower
Stand in front of a mirror with your collar up and top button fastened. Drape the tie around your neck with the wide end on your right side and the narrow end on your left. The wide end should hang approximately 12 inches below the narrow end. This extra length is necessary because the wide end does all the wrapping and still needs to reach your belt when finished. If you consistently end up too long or too short, adjust this starting position. Taller people start with more hanging length, shorter people with less.
Cross the wide end over the narrow end
Take the wide end and cross it over the narrow end from right to left. The wide end should now be on your left side. Where they cross forms the starting point of the knot, which should sit roughly at your sternum level. Hold the crossing point with your left hand while your right hand guides the wide end.
Wrap the wide end behind and back over
Bring the wide end behind the narrow end from left to right. Then bring it back over the front from right to left again. You have now wrapped the wide end once around the narrow end. The wrap should be snug but not tight. You need enough room to slide the wide end through in the next step. At this point you should have a horizontal band of fabric crossing the front of the developing knot.
Pull up through the neck loop
Take the wide end and bring it up through the loop between the tie and your collar (the neck loop). Push it up from underneath on the right side. The wide end is now pointing upward toward your chin.
Tuck down through the front knot
Hold the front of the knot open with your index finger to create a small channel. Guide the wide end downward through this channel (the horizontal band you created in the wrapping step). Pull it through gently. Do not yank it. The wide end should now hang down straight in front of the narrow end.
Good to know: Before fully tightening, pinch the tie just below the knot and push the fabric upward slightly to create a dimple (a small vertical crease centered below the knot). This makes the tie hang better. Hold the dimple in place as you tighten.
Tighten and position the knot
Hold the narrow end with one hand and slide the knot upward toward your collar with the other. Pull the narrow end downward while pushing the knot up. The knot should sit snugly against your top button with no gap visible. The top button should be completely hidden by the knot. Adjust the tightness so it is comfortable but secure. Flip your collar back down over the tie. The tie should hang straight with the wide end reaching approximately to your belt buckle and the narrow end hidden behind it.
If the narrow end hangs below the wide end, start over with the wide end hanging lower at the beginning. If the knot will not slide up to your collar, the wrap in step 3 is too tight, so retie it with a looser wrap. Once the knot is second nature, finish the look with a pocket square. Our guide on how to fold a pocket square shows the simplest folds.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
The length is determined entirely by where you start. If the finished tie hangs too long (below your belt), untie it and start over with the wide end hanging slightly higher at the beginning. If it is too short (above your belt buckle), start with the wide end hanging lower. It takes a few attempts to find your starting point for each tie, since tie lengths vary by brand. Once you find it, it becomes consistent.
The four-in-hand is right anywhere a long tie is worn, from job interviews and daily office wear to weddings and funerals. The exception is black tie, which calls for a bow tie, and our guide on how to tie a bow tie covers that one. The only time a different knot offers an advantage is with a wide spread collar, where the larger half-Windsor or full Windsor fills the wider gap between collar points better visually. But even a four-in-hand works with spread collars. It just looks slightly less proportional.
Look for a small fabric loop or a label on the back of the wide end. Slide the narrow end through this keeper loop after tying the knot, and it stays flat against the back of the wide end. If your tie has no keeper loop, clip both ends together with a small tie clip between the third and fourth shirt buttons.
Never iron a tie directly. The heat flattens the inner lining and creates shiny marks on the fabric. Instead, roll the tie loosely or let it hang for a day, which lets light wrinkles relax. For stubborn wrinkles, hang the tie in a steamy bathroom during a shower. The steam relaxes the fibers without direct contact. For storage, roll ties loosely or hang them on a tie rack. Never fold them.
The standard rule is that your tie width should roughly match your lapel width. With modern slim-fit suits that have narrow 2.5 to 3 inch lapels, a 2.75 to 3 inch tie works best. With classic-fit suits that have wider 3.25 to 3.5 inch lapels, a standard 3.25 inch tie is proportional. Stay between 2.5 and 3.5 inches unless your lapels are unusually narrow or wide, and match those instead.
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How to Tie a Tie
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How to Fold a Pocket Square
How to Iron a Shirt
How to Sew a Button