How To: Tie a Half Windsor Knot

The Half Windsor is a knot that, when matched with a crisp shirt, will give you what is known as sartorial elegance.

Prepare yourself First, turn your collar up and pass the tie around your neck before folding the collar back down. Make sure the wide blade of the tie is around 10 to 12 inches longer than the narrow tail.

Get stuck in Next, pass the wider section over the tail once, then back underneath before bringing it through the loop to create the knot. Fold the blade over the knot, back through the loop once again and tuck it inside the knot. Then gently pull the blade down before pinching the knot to create a neat triangle.

Tidy up You can then tighten by pulling the narrow tail while pushing the knot towards the top of the shirt. Before it reaches the collar, fasten the button and adjust to comfort. The result is a larger knot than the four-in-hand, but extremely smart all the same.

How to wear it The Half Windsor tends to suit a larger and more rounded face and is ideal if you have a beard as it draws ones attention to your neck. When choosing your neck wear bear in mind that a diagonal striped tie goes well with a crisp white or blue shirt while a versatile solid neck-tie suits check and striped shirts.

So, if you don’t want to be left in the collar-fashion wilderness, follow the advice of Charles Tyrwhitt of Jermyn Street who have produced a nifty step-by-step video guide on how to tie the knot.