How to: Tie a Proper Windsor Knot

So you want to look good, eh? The best way to look professional, formal, and by all means, gloriously attractive, is to sport a tie.

You can chose a variety of different tie knots to adorn your shirt with some silk accoutrement. The most professional-looking is the Windsor knot, though most people think they know how to tie this (they really tie a half-Windsor).

Popularized by the Duke of Windsor, this knot creates a perfectly symmetrical shape, suitable to fill wide spread collars. It's all but a dead knot (see: half-Windsor, Popularity of), but sporting one will make you look more than just Stephen from the first season of Top Chef. It could make or break your entire look.

Tying one properly produces a wide triangular knot, which, again, is the most suitable for formal or über-professional occasions. But how, exactly, do you do it? Let Stile tell you, just don't tell James Bond you're tying one on (he thinks those who wear a full-Windsor make one look like a cad).

Step 1:
Start with the wide end of the tie on your right side and extended a foot below the narrow end. (See figure 1)

Step 2:
Cross the wide end over the narrow end and bring it up through the loop. (See Figure 2)

Step 3:
Bring the wide end down, around and behind the narrow end up on your right. (See Figure 3.)

Step 4:
Then put the wide end down through the loop and around and across the narrow end, as shown. (See Figure 4.)

Step 5:
Turn and pass the wide end up through the loop. (See Figure 5.)

Step 6:
Complete the look by slipping the wide end down through the knot in the front. (See Figure 6.) Tighten up by drawing snug up to the collar.

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