How to tie a tie

The necktie (or tie) is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat.

Variants include the bow tie, ascot tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neck ties are generally unsized, but may be available in a longer size.

Men and boys wear neckties as part of regular office attire or formal wear. Neckties can also be worn as part of a uniform (e.g. military, school and waitstaff). Some people wear a tie as normal fashion wear.

If you have to wear a tie on a regular basis, it might as well be awesome. In that spirit, Argentina's "Sinapsis" studio designed this "After Office Tie" for a recent DesignBoom.com competition. It's a simple concept that makes a lot of sense: a tie with a bottle opener built into the bottom of it.

The tie will be exhibited at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts from September 30th to October 4th. Whether it'll become an actual product someday is another story. I could see people buying them, though. Or you could probably make your own if you're ambitious.

Via: http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/14/concept-tie-with-built-in-bottle-opener/

Four in hand knot: Asymmetrical tie knot, good for button-down shirts

Half Windsor Knot: Symmetrical tie knot, goes with any dress shirt

Windsor Knot: Wide & triangular tie knot, good for spread collar shirts

Shell knot: Tidy & fairly wide tie knot, suited for any dress shirt

Note: Starting the tying process with the wide end of the tie on the left or right side is just a matter of custom, so if you are more contented starting with the wide end on the left side then start from the left.

By Andrew Liszewski

Novelty ties were quite popular a few years ago, but the fad seems to have died off save for the occasional clever design that pops up every now and then like the Neck Noose. The tie features a detailed rope print that starts where the tie is knotted and ends with frayed fibers at the bottom, and it's the perfect way to say 'I'm only wearing a tie because it's required of me.' And as a side rant, at what point in human development did tying a piece of hanging fabric around our necks become an indication of professionalism? I'm convinced the neck tie started out as a sight gag by some long dead fashion designer, and for some reason everyone decided to take it seriously.

The Neck Noose is available from CYBEROPTIX in a 100% silk version for $40 or a microfiber version for $30.

Via: http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/07/07/neck-noose-sums-up-how-a-lot-of-people-feel-about-neck-ties/

By Andrew Liszewski

Yesterday I wrote about a clever neck tie design that featured a frayed rope print making it look like you had a noose tied around your neck. I also used the post as a soapbox to express my personal disdain for the concept of neck ties in the first place. So I was really happy to stumble across these Dress For Dinner napkins last night which as far as I'm concerned are an acceptable alternative to a real tie if you happen to find yourself dining in an upscale establishment. I mean let's be honest, most of us already use a tie as a napkin if we happen to be wearing one at dinner, so why stop fooling ourselves. A package of 20 Dressed For Dinner napkins featuring 4 different tie designs is available from The Spoon Sisters for $5.95.

Via: http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/07/08/dress-for-dinner-napkins/

To make the loop just big enough to pull your head out and chuck it aside for the next day's use can be very damaging to your tie and you need to properly untie it instead.

And to do that, you need to reverse the steps that you just followed to untie your tie.