# The Tie Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689 "2011-04-25T18:35:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/61 "2011-04-29T16:01:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I have never heard or seen the phrase before. Bow Ties are effectively the opposite of cool. Bow ties for every day dress: not cool. If you can tie a bow tie in the event that you need to wear a tuxedo: VERY cool. I learned how to tie a bow tie when I was a groomsman in a cousin’s wedding about 25 years ago. The only time I’ve ever used this skill is when I’ve had to wear a tux. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/62 "2011-04-29T16:33:22Z")
I always do it myself but I only know how to make a half-windsor. I should really expand my repetoire. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/63 "2011-04-30T11:33:05Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I have never heard or seen the phrase before. Bow Ties are effectively the opposite of cool. It’s a Dr Who thing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/64 "2011-04-30T12:22:26Z")
I’ve been tying my tie myself since I was very young. No mirror, no nothing. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/65 "2011-05-01T01:34:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I not only tie them myself, I usually have to tie them for my male debaters, who are often woefully lacking in basic sartorial skills. > > I blame the French. The irony here is that it was the French who introduced the necktie as a fashion accessory. It was started by them as a salute to Croatia for assisting France in a war. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/66 "2011-05-01T07:26:41Z")
A fella who doesn’t wear a tie every day to work might be out of practice and need help. But as a man who wears ties to work, I can tie three kinds of knots without a mirror. A bow tie for me is a lot of work and I figure twenty minutes to get it right and need a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/67 "2011-05-02T20:51:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > If you’re an adult male and you can’t tie your own tie you should be ashamed of yourself. > > Well, unless you live somewhere where men don’t wear ties. Or you’re a caveman. I favor the four in hand, myself. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/68 "2011-05-02T21:00:41Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > I favor the four in hand, myself. And I thought that was a [Windsor.](http://beno.id.au/html/webpages-stuff/tieatie.htm) Are they going to take back my Cub Scout Merit Badge? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/69 "2011-05-03T02:08:26Z")
“The other case.” I wear a tie as seldom as possible, and I’m lousy at tying 'em, and I hate relying on other people to do the honors. So I wear a clip-on tie. When I have to wear a tie at all, that is. Works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/70 "2011-05-03T02:33:40Z")
I used to wear a tie in high school as part of our school uniform (I’m a girl). I remember being disillusioned on the day I asked my mom to help me tie my tie. For some reason I thought the wife always tied her husband’s tie for him in a loving ritual every morning. But she told me she’d never tied a tie in her life, and to go ask my dad. ☹ Some of my friends had zipper ties for convenience, but I was a snob about things like that even at that age. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/71 "2011-05-04T05:11:47Z")
I’m lazy. I use a half-windsor and I can tie it while I’m halfway asleep on the bus. (…when I had a job to wear a tie to…) I learned in the Boy Scouts, not the cub scouts (I was a slow learner). As to length, I prefer to have the bottom part of the tie (where the sides begin to make toward the point) be just a tad below the beltline. That’s my preferred length. I have two formal bow-ties that are more like belts - they have a slide-clip on that goes approx. 1/4 of the way around and I don’t have to untie the actual tie. (it’s complicated. But easy.) ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/72 "2011-05-04T08:24:31Z")
The guy from INXS taught me a killer knot. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/73 "2011-05-05T01:17:44Z")
I was trying to teach David Carradine how to tie his tie when it went horribly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/74 "2011-05-05T03:40:49Z")
> [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](#): > > I’m lazy. I use a half-windsor and I can tie it while I’m halfway asleep on the bus. Ditto, but I use the excuse that I have a long torso and need the extra length.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/75 "2011-05-05T03:49:23Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I have never heard or seen the phrase before. Bow Ties are effectively the opposite of cool. Not a Doctor Who fan, eh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689/76 "2011-05-05T03:50:28Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Back when I was in primary and high school, I wore a tie as part of the school uniform, so I’ve known how to tie my own tie as long as I can remember – not that it’s a very difficult process to learn. This is why my 15 year old son can tie his tie, and I suspect the reason I don’t know any Australian males who cannot tie one. That might change in the coming generation as I see public school uniforms no longer requiring a tie, but private ones are. To teach the kid, my husband showed him four or five times, then we just sent him into the bathroom to practice until he caught on. The Headmaster at his school is big on ties, so he has a pretty good knot most of the time.\* \*Unlike most private schools around here, the kids can have different, school approved ties. They do an Aboriginal print every year, they have several rugby ties to correspond with the different years and teams, and ties that signal music, cricket, etc., plus the bog standard School Tie. The boys love it and it’s genius - whatever apprehension they had about wearing a tie is gone and they all want to get the ‘rare’ ones (like 1st 15 rugby or school captian or something.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tie-poll/579689.md?page=3)