Table of ContentsDisclaimerThe Really Boring History Part: Where

Neckties & Knots Come FromPatterns & Knots: When & How To Use

the Right KnotThe Windsor Knot

The Windsor IllustratedTying the Windsor, Step ByStepTips for Tying the Windsor

The Eldredge KnotThe Eldredge IllustratedThe Eldredge Knot, Step ByStepTips to keep in mind

The Ediety Knot (AKA, TheMerovingian Knot)

The Ediety IllustratedThe Ediety Knot, Step By StepTips for Tying the Ediety Knot

The Trinity KnotThe Trinity IllustratedThe Trinity Knot, Step ByStepTips to Keep In Mind WhenTying the Trinity

The Atlantic KnotThe Atlantic IllustratedThe Atlantic Knot, Step ByStepTips to Keep in Mind for theAtlantic Knot

The Han Knot (AKA, The Cape Knot)

The Han IllustratedTying the Han/Cape Knot,Step By StepTips for the Han/Cape Knot

Video Resources

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The Really Boring HistoryPart: Where Neckties &Knots Come From The modern necktie is actually prettyold. Let me bore you with a bit of historybefore we get into the real meat of thisbook, the knots. (If you want to skip toknots right now, tap here. I don't blameyou because history is reeeaaalllyboring.) Mercenary Beginnings

What we call the "necktie" can be tracedway back to 1618, when it was worn bymercenaries in the Thirty Years War - itwas called the "cravat" and immediatelycaught the eye of the more stylishpopulation in Paris (no surprises there)and spread around Europe. In the 1600s men wore cravats made outof lace, and it took them ages to tie andarrange a cravat just right. Eventuallythrough the 1700s cravats gave way to avariation called the "Stock" which had ahigh, stiff collar - again, originally fromthe military where the stiff nature of theStock reminded soldiers they had tokeep their chins up and look proper.

But the cravat was not gone forever, andthrough the 1800s it made a resurgenceas fashionistas coming back to Englandfrom Italy brought it back with them -and those heros of style being what theyalways have been, several books werepublished on the various ways to tieyour cravat. It was also around this time thatsomeone (c’mon, someone awesome)coined the word "tie" in connection withthe cravat. And it stuck. Into the Modern Age

'Round about 1860-ish the modernnecktie as we know it today was born.The Industrial Revolution was in fullswing and men wanted a fashionablestyle that didn't take long to put on, couldbe worn comfortably all day (Necktiescomfortable? Well, when you're comingfrom the stiff, high collars of the1820s…), and didn't loosen or untie asyou worked and went about yourbusiness on those newfangled steamengines. Neckties as we know and love/hate themtoday basically go back this period. Thefirst knots people tied were simpleaffairs, as were the neckties themselves:straight, thin, and usually black. The

common tie knot from this period was bytoday's standards pretty bland. In 1926, a man named Jesse Langdorf(one of the few true heros of the necktie)invented a way of making ties by cuttingthem 'on the bias', or against the grain ofthe fabric, and then stitching the tietogether in three segments - this was atrue revelation because it gave the tiesome elasticity and also made fall itstraight and flat from the knot rather thantwisting. By the time the 20's werefinished, the necktie was being madewith the inner lining and stitching we seetoday. The 'slip stitch' was starting to beused in the tie at this point also, whichwas another great milestone - it allowed

the fabric to move with the seams ratherthan stretch or even tear. I'll spare you the small, period stylechanges that have happened since the20's, but will say that hand painted ties,vests, and waistlines all influenced howmen wore a tie through the 30’s and upto the 50’s. Through the 60's fashiondesigners began to use bolder andbrighter colors, and it was at this pointalso that clothiers began selling shirt/tiecombos for the guys who didn't want tobother trying to match them themselves,and/or didn’t have a lady friend aroundto help them out.

The 80's made ties super skinny, butthankfully this didn't last because using askinny tie really limits your choice of tieknots. But the 90's widened them outagain and brought the full array of tieknots back into play. Nowadays, basically anything goeswhen it comes to neckties. You can wearyour football team around your neck, oryour favorites Looney Toons guy, or goold school and wear the Britishregimental stripes - basically, anythingyou want to wear can be worn if youhave the chutzpa to pull it off.Sometimes more chutzpa is required fora certain tie, so be sure and vary eitherthe amount of chutzpa or the style of tie

to make it work best. All this history aside, let me say thisbefore we move on: The traditionalstyles like paisleys, stripes, and solidsare absolutely the best choice whenyou start tying unique knots. Thewhole point of tying a cool knot isbecause it's cool, so you want people tonotice it. Wearing a Marvin the Martiandesign makes people look at the Martian,not the knot, so save that tie for pokernight. Some tie patterns work better with someknots rather than others. Which patternswork best with which knots? Turn the

page and we'll dig into that...

Patterns & Knots: When &How To Use the Right Knot Basically, the bolder the pattern on thetie the simpler the tie knot should be, andvice versa, the simpler the pattern themore complex a knot you can get awaywith. It’s not a hard and fast rule though, and ifyou really like complex knots like TheEldredge then by all means tie itwhenever you feel like tying it. Societyisn’t going to demonize you if you pair afancy knot with a really detailed or boldpatterned tie - you’ll always be more

awesome than, say, Richard Simmonsbecause Richard Simmons never wore atie in the first place. It works best thisway but it’s no big deal whichever knotyou use with whichever tie you choose. But if you want the knot to stand out,keep it in mind as you pick out a tie andtie the knot. People look at the boldestthing first - it’s why companies spendbillions of dollars every year onmarketing. It’s just how the human eyeworks, and it works that way for ties,too. If you have more detail in your knot thenthat’s where people are going to look,

and a detailed or bold tie pattern isgoing to detract from the attention peoplewould otherwise give the knot. Also, complex tie knots have more foldsand flips, which can get lost on a tie thathas a pattern with a lot of detail. Solidsabsolutely work the best for thesecomplex knots because you can easilysee the folds of the knot itself. Use this handy dandy chart to make themost of both your ties and your tie knots:

As long as you remember the delicate,ballerina-like balance between knot andpattern you’ll be a stunner. I’m jokingabout the ballerina part. The guiding principle is: Complex knotwith simple tie. Simple knot withcomplex tie. Done.

One more thing to keep in mind whenyou tie these knots: As with any tie tieknot, you want the front of the tie to fallbasically halfway down your beltbuckle. You won’t have it exact eachtime, but aim for the belt buckle andyou’ll hit it most of the time. The onlyknot where this doesn’t apply is theEdiety Knot, since that can easily windup being much shorter at both the wideand thin ends (for this reason, only wearthe Ediety Knot when you have a vest orsuit to cover the bottom of the tie.) Now, the whole reason you got thisbook: Prepare to meet the awesomest tie

knots in the world.

The Windsor Knot

The Windsor is actually a fairly common

knot, at least in name (including thevariations of Half and Full Windsor),but it can be a lot more complicated thanit needs to be with so many instructionsfor it online - and with a lot of peopleteaching variations of the knot, or evenpassing off the Half Windsor as theregular or Full Windsor (the HalfWindsor skips one of the last loops andcan look a bit lopsided and uneven).Learning to properly tie the Windsorwill help you out quite a bit with theEdiety Knot later on. The Windsor is sometimes called theDouble or Full Windsor and it’s one ofthe most enduring knots. It got it’s namein Great Britain, supposedly named for

the Duke of Windsor. It is also theONLY knot used by all personnel in theRoyal Air Force in black tie uniform -because it’s such a dressy and formallooking knot. By contrast, Ian Flemingwrote that James Bond never trusted aman who wore a Windsor... but what didhe know? The reason the Windsor is so enduring isbecause it’s so symmetrical. There’s nooff-balance look to the knot - it’s veryeven, balanced, and full.

The Windsor Illustrated

Tying the Windsor, Step By Step1. Put the tie around your neck with the

wide end to your right side. It’s anormal-tied knot, so you need plentyof length on the wide end. The thinend, in fact, basically only needs to belong enough to stabilize the knot(about six inches long is fine).

2. Pass the wide end of the tie over the

thin end and around the back, passingbehind the knot and up through theneck. Bring the wide end back downfront to the left side.

3. Pass the wide end around back from

left to right. 4. From Step 3, bring the wide end up

over the front on the right side anddown through neck in the back.

5. Bring the wide end from Step 4

around the front of the tie from left toright.

6. Bring the wide part up through the

neck from behind and over the front ofthe knot.

7. Pass the wide end through that front

loop you made in Step 5. 8. Tighten the knot up, center it on your

neck, and fold the collar down. Done! Tips for Tying the Windsor1. In Step 4, you can easily adjust the

knot to be more symmetrical. Youwant the knot to be even on bothsides, and this is a key point in tyingthe knot where you can make a slightcorrection without getting to the endand having to untie everything.

2. Unlike the other knots in this book,

you tie the Windsor with the wide end

of the tie. Which means you don’tadjust the wide end at the beginningand then tie the knot around it with thethin end. It’s a little tricky at first toget the length just right (about halfwaydown your belt buckle), but a littlepractice will let you know how muchlength you need.

3. Keep in mind that with thicker knots,

thicker fabric ties REALLY can getbulky. I’ve tied this knot with thin andmedium ties, which work best. Thereally heavy ties tend to have troublewith twisting fabric (which can ruinthe tie) and the end result is a reallybulky tie knot. The more bulk youhave in a knot, the more unbalanced it

can look.

The Eldredge Knot

The Eldredge and the Ediety (which is

up next) are the two most complex knotsin this book - so reserve them for yoursimple pattern or solid ties to get themost bang out of them. The Eldredge is a thin-tied knot - whichmeans you hold the wide end of the tiewhere you want it to sit and then use thethin end to go through the motions ofactually tying the knot.

The Eldredge Illustrated

The Eldredge Knot, Step By StepThe Eldredge looks fantastic when it’swell tied, and surprisingly it’s not thatcomplicated to do - it’s a very easy knotto learn. 1. Adjust the front of the tie (wide end)

on the left side a couple inches abovewhere you want it to sit, which is atthe belt buckle.

2. Using the thin end of the tie, cross

over the front from right to left, andthen come back behind from left toright.

3. Bring the thin end up the front over theright side of the knot and pass it downbehind through the neck.

4. Pull the thin end off to the bottom left

of the knot and wrap it around thefront of the knot. The tricky part is alldone - from now on, you’ll just bepassing the thin end back and forthuntil you have the herringbone effectof the knot.

5. From Step 4, bring the thin end up

behind the knot through the neck andpass it over to the right side.

6. Bring the thin end behind the knotfrom right to left, and bring it up overthe front of the knot, tuckingunderneath that loop on the front youmade in Step 5 (it’s like making asimple knot within the knot). Tightenit up a bit so everything lays flat.

7. Again, bring the thin end around the

back to the front right of the tie,looping around the right neck part ofthe tie, and pull it back down behindthe knot.

8. Bring the thin end down behind the

knot to left side, and like in Step 6, upover the front of the knot but again

passing it underneath the topmost loop- the one you just made in Step 7.Again, it’s like a simple knot-within-a-knot. Tighten it down again so theknot lays flat.

9. Adjust the front of the tie, bringing the

knot up to your neck and make sureit’s centered.

10. Holding the thin end wrapped up

alongside your neck, fold the collardown so everything’s hiddenunderneath.

Tips to keep in mind1. Adjust the wide end of the tie a little

higher than you want it to be. This isbecause once the knot is done and youtighten the knot up to your neck thefront of the tie will lengthen. I give ita couple inches, but it depends onwhere you tie the knot (close to yourneck or several inches away). Playaround with which feels best andyou’ll get to know how to adjust thetie at the beginning to have it end upwhere you want.

2. Some have experimented with

wrapping the short end down throughthe last loop on the back of the tie and

letting the thin end hang behind thewide end, like a ‘normal’ or regulartie knot. I don’t recommend thisbecause it gives the tie a somewhatlopsided appearance on that last passthrough the knot.

3. You’ll have to tie this knot a few

times to get the finished lengthcorrect. That’s the biggest issue withthe knot. After a few times, you’llhave a pretty good idea of where youneed to hold the wide end as you startthe knot. It’s higher than you think atfirst!

4. The Eldredge does not work well

with a striped tie! That’s because thestripes wind up going in all differentdirections and the detail of the knotgets lost. For best results, use a plainsolid tie.

The Ediety Knot (AKA, TheMerovingian Knot)

The Eldredge and the Ediety are themost stunning knots you can tie - bothwill leave the viewer with no idea howyou tied them, only that you must be awizard for knowing how to do it. The Ediety is somewhat morecomplicated than the Eldredge, simplybecause it can be tied two ways:1. You can tie the Full Windsor

backwards, then loosen the knot (butdon’t untie it), take the tie off, flip itover, put it back on, and tighten it up.

2. You can tie the knot as a whole newknot in itself - no flipping - which isthe correct way I’ll be showing you.

The first method might work very well ifyou already are very familiar with theWindsor. Just flip the tie when you’redone and voila! Ediety Knot! But in myopinion it’s best to keep each knotseparate and learn the Ediety Knot as aknot in it’s own right. However, withthat in mind, even when you tie theEdiety with the second method it’s stillthe basic moves of the Windsor so itshould come quite naturally for you ifyou’re familiar with that knot.

The Ediety Illustrated

The Ediety Knot, Step By StepThe fact that you’re aiming for the littleend to wind up on the front of the knotcan confuse some guys because it flies inthe face of everything you know about tieknots. Just keep following the steps,check the illustrations, use the referencelinks to the video if you need to, andkeep going. You’ll get it fine with a littlepractice. 1. Put the tie around your neck with the

wide end to your right, and give itPLENTY of length because this knoteats just as much fabric as the FullWindsor.

2. Bring the wide end to the left underthe thin end.

3. Bring it up over the front and then

down through the neck, pulling it backto the left side.

4. Bring the wide end from left to right

across the front of the tie. This is thepart that makes that little mini-knot inthe Ediety.

5. Bring it behind the knot on the right,

up through the neck and back down tothe front on the right side.

6. Bring the wide end around the back ofthe know from right to left.

7. Put the wide end up over the front of

the knot and down through the neck,put pass it through that back loop youjust made in Step 6.

8. Tighten the knot up, center it good,

and you’re all set! Tips for Tying the Ediety Knot1 . Be sure and give yourself PLENTY

(hey, there’s that word in all capsagain!) of length on the wide end ofthe knot since there’s so many moves

in this knot. Leave it longer than youthink you’ll need, but within reason.As with all these knots, after a fewtimes practicing it you’ll have itnailed down like a pro.

2. Be aware before that when you wear

this knot you need to wear either avest or a blazer/suit coat. Thereason is because the bottom end ofthe tie don’t look pretty.. The shortend can wind up being longer thanthe wide end, or the tie can be reallyshort on both ends and look morelike a bib. Wearing a vest or blazerhides the bottom ends of the tie so noone sees them - all they see is the

awesome knot itself. 3 . A tie clip works great with this knot

- clip the tie (both wide and thingends) to your shirt, but pull them up asmidgeon so the tie is a bit puffy atup near the knot. Doing this makes itlook more cravat.

The Trinity Knot

Like the Eldredge and the Ediety knots,

the Trinity is an eye catcher. Unlikethose two knots, the Trinity isn’t a ‘tight’knot. You need to keep things a littlelooser than you’re used to if you wantthe knot to work right.

The Trinity Illustrated

The Trinity Knot, Step By StepRemember: Don’t tighten down the knotwith each move like you do on other tieknots. Let the fabric fold more or less onit’s own to add the volume to the knotthat it needs in order to look best. 1. With the thin end of the tie hanging

down on the right side, bring it to theleft side over the wide end.

2. Now the thin end goes up behind

through the neck, and bring it down tothe left.

3. Bring the thin end around the back of

the knot to the right side, then up overthe front and down through the neck.

4. Now here’s where the knot starts

taking shape: From Step 3, bring thethin end loosely around the front fromleft to right, and up through neck frombehind the knot.

5. Carry the thin end over the top of the

knot but tuck it through the loose frontloop you made in Step 4, keeping thisloop loose also.

6. After passing the thin end through the

loose loop from Step 4, bring it

around behind the knot from left toright, and pass it over the top of theknot through the loose loop #2 youmade in Step 5.

7. Adjust the knot as needed to give it

the Trinity shape, and tuck the thin endup under the collar with the neck bandof the tie, and fold the collar down.

Tips to Keep In Mind When Tying the Trinity1 . Try and save this knot for your

thicker ties. And by ‘thicker’ I meanties that are a heavier material. Thereason is that the Trinity needs to betied a bit looser than normal knots,

and the heavier fabric lets the knotstay loose but still have body. Thinfabric ties don’t work well for theTrinity because they twist anddimple in the knot itself, which ruinsthe look of the knot altogether.

2 . As with other thin-tied knots, adjust

the wide end of the tie up higher thannormal as you start tying the knot - acouple inches higher than normal is agood starting point if you want thefinished tie to fall to your beltbuckle. Practice and patience willteach you exactly where to adjust thewide end of the tie as you start theknot.

3 . Remember to tie the last three loops

of the knot loosely - the Trinity needsthe loops to have some volume tothem. If you over tighten the knot, youwill get dimples on the three loops inthe front, which ruins the look of theknot.

4 . The Trinity can work with striped

ties pretty good - but dependingwhether you tie it left or right handedmeans you get either a pinwheeleffect (stripes go out from the centerof the knot) or a triangle effect(stripes go around the center).Experiment with both and see which

one you like!

The Atlantic Knot

The Atlantic Knot is hands-down the

simplest knot you’ll learn in this book,but it works great with a heavy fabric tieand works wonders when you’re in ahurry and need something sharp andunusual. Like the Eldredge and the Trinity knots,the Atlantic is a thin-tied knot, meaningthat just as with those two knots youhave to adjust the wide end of the tiebefore you begin tying the knot. Thesame as with the Trinity and Eldredge,keep it a couple inches above where youwant it to fall, which is usually at thebelt buckle. As you tighten the knot thewide end, or front, of the tie willlengthen.

The Atlantic Illustrated

The Atlantic Knot, Step By Step1. With the wide end of the tie around

your neck on your right, adjust it acouple inches above where you wantit to hang once it’s all tied.

2. Wrap the thin end over the top from

left to right and up through the neckfrom behind the knot, bringing it downon the opposite side on the left.

3. Bring the thin end around behind the

knot from left to right. 4. Bring the thin end up over the front the

knot and down through the neck,

passing through that loop you made inStep 3.

5. Cinch the knot up to your neck, and

center it before you fold the collardown.

Tips to Keep in Mind for the Atlantic Knot1. Tie the knot relatively loosely. This

knot doesn’t eat as much of the tie asthe others, so the thin end of the tiemay end up falling lower than thewide end (not something you want!).Tying the knot loosely adds a bit morevolume to the knot, making it lookmore substantial, and it also uses up

more of the length of the tie so youcan counter this problem.

The Han Knot (AKA, TheCape Knot)

From the best I can tell, the Han wasfirst tied by a stylish gentleman namedHenry Hu (the link to the original videohe posted on YouTube is in theResources chapter). Hu himself states heisn’t aware if it’s been tied before, butgives the name Han for the knot. It’ssince made a surge in popularity onvarious websites, where it’s beingcalled the Cape knot - whichever nameis correct I don’t know but Cape is themore popular name. Both are relativelynew knots. The Han, according Mr. Hu, wasoriginally the result of trying to tie TheEdiety Knot and getting it slightly wrong.However, the result is still a very unique

and cool knot - so let’s tie it up right andgive it a proper place in the world of tieknots. The knot got the name Cape because itlook like the knot has a little ‘cape’behind it - A gentleman named AlexKrasny supplied this name. It’s a cooleffect.

The Han Illustrated

Tying the Han/Cape Knot, Step By Step1. Place the tie around your neck, with

the thin end on your right side. Adjustthe wide end of the tie a couple inchesabove where you want it to fall whenthe knot is finished. This is a thin-tiedknot, so you’ll be tying the knot withthe thin end of the tie.

2. Bring the thin end over the top of the

knot to your left, and then up behindthrough the neck.

3. Bring the thin end down to your right

side and pass it behind the knot to theleft side, but continue around the front

of the knot back to the right side (youjust made a 180 degree loop aroundthe knot).

4. Pass the thin end up behind the knot

through the neck, and bring it down tothe front on right side again.

5. Bring the thin end around the back to

the left side, then up and over the knotand down through the neck.

6. Pass the thin end through that last loop

on the back (the back loop you madein the beginning of Step 5.

7. Tighten up the knot and center it onyour neck. Fold the collar down andyou’re all set to go!

Tips for the Han/Cape Knot1. This knot doesn’t work well with a

striped tie. As with the Eldredge knot,the stripes confuse the detail of theknot and the wow factor is almostcompletely lost. By all means tie withstripes if for your own enjoyment butdon’t expect many people to notice ifyou do.

Video Resources Atlantic Video How-tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_fudDEG30o Ediety Video How-tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFdk-IT2cmg Eldredge Video How-tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqBCryhsHQ

Han/Cape Video How-tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUVBQ00iwTIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-n2xkYX6s Full Windsor Video How-tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1oKs8fvYQg Trinity Video How-tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yqLAcNwDbk