My church is blessed with a few guys who wear bowties (bowties are cool), and we even have a gentleman who will rock the occasional cravat. It's brilliant. Anyway, when I studied YouTube to learn how to tie my own bowtie, I stumbled into a new world of necktie knots, a world I'm sad to say I'd never heard of. Everyone I knew growing up used the half-windsor (and if they used something else, they called it the half-windsor). I didn't even realize there *were* other ways to tie a tie! Then my friend Vera sent me a knot she thought would look really nice, and the game was on. Not surprisingly, there are hundreds of ways to tie a tie, each one looking just a little different. (There are also hundreds of websites explaining these knots, each one of a varying level of condescension.) While this is not a proper application of 1 Cor 13:11, it did raise an important theological question for me: does wearing a non-standard tie knot inappropriately shift attention from God to the wearer? Like every such question, the answer comes down to the heart. If I intend to attract attention to myself through my knots, then yes, I've got it all wrong. But that doesn't have to be the case, and here's how.
The Trinity KnotThis is the most beautiful tie knot I've ever seen, and it really does look like the old Celtic Trinity. That gives it aesthetics and theological value (after a kind; okay, not really). It takes some work, but like the bowtie is so worth the effort. As a pastor, I'm comfortable wearing this knot anywhere. Let me give credit to ties.com, agreeordie.com (not sure what that title is all about), and shirtsmyway.com for the images, instructions, and videos. The videos are all linked at the bottom of the page for those of you/us who need to see something demonstrated before we can just pick up and go. The Eldredge KnotThis is one of those over-the-top knots that I've read should not be worn to just any occasion (like work). I have absolutely no problem wearing this knot to church, however. There are a number of knots in this style, including the boutonniere, the ellie, and the fishbone. The eldredge is my personal favorite because of its clean aesthetic and "regular" necktie shape. You can see that it's pretty involved to learn how to tie, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. The Ediety/Merovingian KnotThis knot has been around for a long time, but was repopularized by the Matrix villain of that second name. It also resembles a number of other knots, including the atlantic (in shape) and the cape, but I can't get past it's uniqueness and hidden symmetry. To get the biggest effect, you actually have to create a new tie out of two ties, but that might be a bit much. Sadly, ties.com does not have one of their excellent graphics for this tie, but van heusen fills in nicely. If it is not entirely clear, just check out the video at the bottom of the page. I have trouble making my hands do the mirror image, but that's a personal issue.
The BowtieI have been around bowties since college (and I even wore clipons to all sorts of dances and formal occasions), but I didn't realize how cool and fun they were until season 5 of Doctor Who. What I find frustrating about bowties is keeping the free end from twisting. That's a problem for me because, while I can do the whole left/right mirror image, I have a hard time with the front/back mirror image. Always have. The PlattsburghWhile there are countless "standard" knots such as the half-windsor, I settled on one that is obscure enough not to be on ties.com. It is a clean, solid knot that's not at all hard to tie (just so long as you can keep it straight from the others) but requires just enough work to make it worthwhile. I find this knot to have a unique shape that doesn't attract attention to itself, but obviously it works best with a fine, wide tie in order to accentuate the narrow base. [author's addendum] I have since discovered that I equally enjoy the Fishbone Knot (for thinner ties) and the Rose Knot. Once I find or create a diagram for tying the Rose Knot, I'll add them both to this list. The Fishbone
The Cape KnotHere's another knot I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I do. I thought at first that it looked like a sloppier, poor man's version of the Ediety. I was wrong. The Cape Knot, especially with a thicker (and preferably wider) tie, has its own kind of class and got several unsolicited positive comments. I tie it a bit looser, which gives it a very unique look. Please pardon my poor job of shaving that morning. The Rose KnotThis is a very cool knot that, as far as I can tell, some creative teenager just came up with. It looks like a Trinity Knot with an extra loop, but is actually tied very differently. There is no diagram anywhere out there for it, just the YouTube video that the creator posted. I have to think that there is an easier way to tie it than designed (there are a few steps that seem counter-intuitive), but I'm not clever enough to begin to figure that out. It's a pretty, subtle knot that works best with a very plain-ish tie. Something I've observed about the Rose Knot: one of the corners really sticks out when I tie it (as you can see in the picture). If you have a shirt with a larger collar, it would be able to handle this asymmetry just fine. Reference VideosThere are a whole bunch of guys out there with watch-me-tie-a-tie channels, and they're easy to look up. This guy worked for me because I never felt like he was trying to impress me.
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