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October 01, 2007
All about ties
There is no more annoying piece of clothing in a man's wardrobe than the necktie. I've often wondered exactly how it is that the tie became a fashion staple, but something tells me it doesn't really matter. They're here to stay. Don't even get me started on bolo ties.
Ties, to me, are annoying simply because they are so hard to tie. A few months ago, I undertook upon myself to learn how to make a full windsor knot, as opposed to the rather juvenile four-in-hand. Here's a secret about the full windsor: it's a bitch to learn how to do. I spent probably two days trying to figure out to make one, and I was only successful because I found a video on youtube which explained it perfectly.
Nevertheless, I mastered the full windsor, and set about tying my ties that way for a week. But I noticed something extremely annoying about the full windsor: you have to get it exactly right, or your tie will look comically short. The tie, as I understand it, should extend to just about your belt... Any shorter, or longer, and it looks silly. The full windsor, however, is so hard to get just right, that people end up doing it wrong and just leaving it.
Here are two examples:
The top is Captain Ellerby from The Departed, and the bottom is Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce. I mean, look at those things! At the very least, get somebody to fix the damn thing for you. Don't these guys have wives or something? The sad thing is, I see people with ties like this all the time... In fact, I was spurred to write this entry because I just sat through class with a professor who had a similar misfortune with his tie.
I took the easy way out, however. After weeks of spending ten minutes on my tie because I couldn't get it just right, I gave up and went for the half windsor, which is about twenty times easier to get right than the full windsor. But those of you who continue to walk around like this... I guess I salute you. You are troopers.
entry no. 973
Posted by oz115 at October 1, 2007 12:04 PM
Comments
Oz,
And you're not even talking about bowties, which I am surrounded by down here in Virginia! That is a whole other ballgame!
Laura
Posted by: Laura Neidert at October 1, 2007 03:32 PM