[232524]

Throughout the course of a day (from putting on to taking it off) at a typical office job, how often would you say you have to slightly touch it up so it sicks snug up against the collar button again? I favour four-in-hands, and I would say the several times I visit the bathroom, I can see enough of a gap that I can adjust it (typically a quarter inch), only for it to reappear the next time I come and see the mirror again.

Is this a common issue? I had always assumed that this is inevitable, for a knot on a tie to loosen throughout the day as your neck flexes.

 

[eagle2250]

As a retiree my wear of a tie these days is generally limited to once a week for perhaps 4 to 5 hours on Sunday(s). I wear shirts sized so as to provide a collar fit that is not so restrictive that it cuts off blood flow to the brain and I tie my ties so as not to alter the fit of my shirt collar. I honestly don't recall having to adjust my ties all that much, beyond knotting the tie when I put it on and un- knotting the tie when I take it off. :icon_scratch:

 

[SG_67]

Whenever I sense a lack of respect.

 

[JBierly]

Whenever I sense a lack of respect.

What's the matter Rodney?!

 

[JBierly]

I will add that Rodney came to my mind also for this post. I don't really find myself fooling with my tie much at all. Perhaps if I look in the mirror I might think about it. Otherwise, no.

 

[drlivingston]

Tie it and forget about it. If it becomes askew during the day, so be it. Savor the sprezz.

 

[JBierly]

Tie it and forget about it. If it becomes askew during the day, so be it. Savor the sprezz.

Ah yes - the sprezz. I think it may require a 4 in hand so that the knot is slightly askew as well as loose.

 

[Charles Dana]

I will add that Rodney came to my mind also for this post.

Yes. And Johnny Carson, too. Adjusting the tie knot was but one of the famous tics that he had, and which impressionists like Rich Little loved to parody.

 

[Acct2000]

I glance at it if I'm in the bathroom. I rarely have to adjust mine. I use either a four in hand with button downs or a half windsor with other shirts. Some ties have a tendency to slip, but not that many.

 

[Flanderian]

Throughout the course of a day (from putting on to taking it off) at a typical office job, how often would you say you have to slightly touch it up so it sicks snug up against the collar button again? I favour four-in-hands, and I would say the several times I visit the bathroom, I can see enough of a gap that I can adjust it (typically a quarter inch), only for it to reappear the next time I come and see the mirror again.

Is this a common issue? I had always assumed that this is inevitable, for a knot on a tie to loosen throughout the day as your neck flexes.

Answer: As often as needed, which varies with circumstance, tie, knot and collar.

Unsolicited Advice: Forty years in a tie, more or less, every day. Different ties, knots and collars require readjustment to differing degrees. A four-in-hand knot can be handsome, and I use one for thicker ties, but other knots both slip less, and being larger, better fill the gap. I favor the half-windsor. The choice is yours.

Also ties, of less slippery materials usually tend to cinch better, resulting in the knot slipping less.

The gap is also an issue. Neckbands that are rounded off at the end of the neckband where it buttons allow the tie to fit more securely into the gap, as well as making it less noticeable if the tie does slip a bit. Brooks and most British shirtmakers I've encountered have the practice of not rounding this portion and cutting them so they're straight across.

 

[Troones]

I used to suffer tie slip a lot. I learned I wasn't cinching the knot enough as I finished tying it. As Flanderian mentions, some ties will slip more and require a knot that will compensate for this. I also like the Half Windsor for thinner ties to beef up the knot a bit and keep it tight. It ends up looking like a four in hand on very thin ties.

 

[Dhaller]

Like Flanderian, I'm a half-Windsor man. That's how my father wore ties, and what he taught me. I've seldom strayed.

I would say I really never fidget with my tie. If I happen to look in a mirror, sure, I'll adjust it along with errant hairs; otherwise, no fuss.

I think 99% of tie complaints are actually shirt complaints. Almost no one actually fits perfectly into off-the-rack shirts, yet few people actually get shirts altered; it doesn't occur to them. I discovered early on that I wasn't quite served by OTR shirtmakers (15.5/35), so I've had shirts made since my early 20s. Complaints about ties are really complaints about neck sizing in shirts; solve that, and a tie becomes completely unobtrusive.

Shirts that fit and avoid the fiddly knots.

DH

 

[jts287]

After 12 years of Catholic school, I can wear a tie indefinitely without noticing discomfort.

 

[Sam Hober]

"Also ties, of less slippery materials usually tend to cinch better, resulting in the knot slipping less."

Exactly - with satin weave ties I tend to adjust often - with a dryer, rougher fabric maybe adjust once a day...

 

[JBierly]

After 12 years of Catholic school, I can wear a tie indefinitely without noticing discomfort.

For those hardy enough to have survived 12 years of Catholic school, the usual complaints that I have heard have not included the inability to tolerate a tie!

 

[Charles Dana]

I would say I really never fidget with my tie. If I happen to look in a mirror, sure, I'll adjust it along with errant hairs; otherwise, no fuss.

I think 99% of tie complaints are actually shirt complaints. I've had shirts made since my early 20s. Complaints about ties are really complaints about neck sizing in shirts; solve that, and a tie becomes completely unobtrusive.

Shirts that fit and avoid the fiddly knots. DH

"Fiddly knots"?

"Fiddly knots," he says?

There's a law of nature that I just made up: It stipulates that any time you see the term "fiddly knots" in a post, you are required to transform the post into a poem. (Unless the post is already a poem. In which case you go into the kitchen and fix yourself a snack.)

FIDDLY KNOT

I don't like a fiddly knot.
Simple is what hits the spot.
Cinch it up then leave alone.
To slipping it will not be prone.

Of course, your collar must be right.
Not too loose and not too tight.
A man whose shirt is custom-made
Has it made right in the shade.

At mid-day you'll re-comb your hair
(Provided you have strands up there).
But I don't think you will begin
To fiddle with your knot again.

 

[EclecticSr.]

For those hardy enough to have survived 12 years of Catholic school, the usual complaints that I have heard have not included the inability to tolerate a tie!

Count me among the hardy. No problems with knot slippage. Four in hand myself. Simple solution for the more slip prone fabric, after cinching, lift the knot and pierce through with a small tailors straight pin, (I like the ones with balled heads) locks the knot. Never noticeable.

 

[SG_67]

I’ll admit I don’t wear ties every day. When I do, I prefer a half-Windsor. A properly made a small knotted tie really shouldn’t slip all that much.

Someone mentioned the shirt collar previously. I agree that this has as much bearing on the matter as does the type of knot or any other factor.

 

[Charles Dana]

Count me among the hardy. No problems with knot slippage. Four in hand myself. Simple solution for the more slip prone fabric, after cinching, lift the knot and pierce through with a small tailors straight pin, (I like the ones with balled heads) locks the knot. Never noticeable.

But don't you feel weird walking around with a straight pin so close to your Adam's apple? I'd rather keep a straight pin far away from my throat and take my chances with slippage.

 

[EclecticSr.]

But don't you feel weird walking around with a straight pin so close to your Adam's apple? I'd rather keep a straight pin far away from my throat and take my chances with slippage.

Pointed south /southeast, or south/southwest, never a self induced tracheotomy. Weird? Who me?