Tying a Tie for Beginners

When a boy finally ties his own tie at graduation or some other point he can look at himself in the mirror and say that he no longer needs daddy's help to get by. It really is a simple practice that most men of a certain age can't master until they are forced to. Clip-on's aren't even a good alternative anymore as they are looked down upon as a fashion mistake and looked at as a man who can't dress himself. There are a plethora of ways to tie a tie and some are definitely more complicated than others. However, there is one simple way that for beginners can get them on the path to more daring knots.

Here is the simplest way to tie a tie that I learned when I had to start wearing one to my internship every morning. I am proud to say I've graduated on to tying Windsor knots and other various types of knots, but this is the one that got me started:

1. Pop your collar and place the tie around your neck. The big part of the tie should be on your right and the small part on your left. The big part should also be considerably longer than the short part, but leave enough room where you can work with the smaller part.

2. Cross the big part over the little part, basically move the right side of your tie and fold it over the left side.

3. Wrap the big part around the small knot, going under and then over again, basically repeating the practice you just did in Step 2.

4. Take the big part of the tie, which you just wrapped around the little part twice, and bring it up behind the knot you just made.

5. Take the big part, which the side you want showing (the front) facing you, and go through the knot. This is the tricky part in most cases. There will be three strips of your tie in the knot at this point, and you want to bring the tie down in between the three. Hold one strip back and bring down the tie between the innermost strip and the second strip.

6. Tug down softly on the lie to straighten it out. Use the small part of the tie in the back the straighten everything out.

7. Tuck the small part of your tie in your shirt if it doesn't reach the loop in the back, or if you don't have a tie clip.

8. Help out your friends that are having trouble.