# Windsor Knot or Windsor Not **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 17, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501 "2013-01-17T13:07:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/61 "2013-01-18T15:42:48Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > FYI if you use a full Windsor Knot, everybody is laughing at you behind your back. Sure, but once they see me face to face they’re very impressed! ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/62 "2013-01-18T15:50:08Z")
I, for one, am going [bolo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_tie) full time for my tie needs, and I encourage everyone else to do the same. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/63 "2013-01-18T16:24:02Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I guess my first post came off as sarcastic. It wasn’t. So my point was that it WOULD be nice to be able to just turn the phone off and not deal with work issues at all odd times. > > As for the Chicken - > Oh sure! Bring up the chicken again and just re-open that old heartache! You know damn good and well the chicken left me for an egg. And I hear that they are no longer “the perfect couple”; something about never achieving a simultaneous O. One of them always comes first but no clue as to which one. Ah, my mistake, I thought it was sarcastic, sorry. Yeah, I get my phone bill paid by my company, but they expect me to answer pretty much be at their beck and call. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/64 "2013-01-18T16:24:52Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > I, for one, am going [bolo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_tie) full time for my tie needs, and I encourage everyone else to do the same. Which is only cool if you tie it in a full Windsor. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/65 "2013-01-18T16:48:09Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > Well to be pedantic two spaces after a period was introduced for typewriters due to each letter occupying the same space and is horrible to typesetters to this day. Courier font still requires double spacing but otherwise…😛 This discussion of one or two periods on a web forum is sort of amusing. Browsers will convert multiple spaces to one space unless you put in special codes to prevent them from doing this. This is followed by 1 space. This is followed by 2 spaces. This is followed by 10 spaces. They look the same to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/66 "2013-01-18T17:12:54Z")
Thanks to this thread, I have learned that I wear a Pratt knot. Good knot. Lousy name. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/67 "2013-01-18T17:36:17Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Thanks to this thread, I have learned that I wear a Pratt knot. > > Good knot. Lousy name. Aye, pretty damn awesome knot. I Bookmarked that page and intend to annoy my lovely and long-suffering wife by trying different knots over the next few weeks. Not that she’ll notice. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/68 "2013-01-18T18:25:56Z")
Pshaw! Real men tie their tie with Gordian knots. I go through a lot of ties though. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/69 "2013-01-18T18:46:58Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah, the four in hand is for your first recital. For me it was for school every day. I have since spent my life trying to avoid having to wear a tie. I’m doing pretty well at it. Oh and any knot that isn’t four-in-hand looks way, way too big to me. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/70 "2013-01-18T19:34:37Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Obviously, and I’d say this even if I didn’t know it, you are Israeli. You guys wouldn’t wear a tie to a white-tie dinner. True, that. When my sister got married I asked her if she wanted me to wear a jacket and tie to her wedding. She said no, she didn’t want me dressed more formally than the groom. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/71 "2013-01-20T17:00:09Z")
Fellow bow tie wearer here, just feeling superior. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/72 "2013-01-20T17:13:01Z")
Herman Wouk covered this controversy thoroughly in his definitive work The Windsor War. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/73 "2013-01-20T17:52:43Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > Fellow bow tie wearer here, just feeling superior. So how much does a maitre d’ pull down these days? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/74 "2013-01-20T18:11:46Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > There is no such thing as a “Half Windsor”. > What you call a “Half Windsor” is more accurately described as “Not Knowing How to Tie a Fucking Tie”. > > Thank you for your attention. Here’s how I read your post: “I’m 19 years old, and I just got my first real job. I learned how to tie a necktie for the interview, so now I feel entitled to go around judging other people because I have the ego of a typical 19-year-old douchebag.” ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/75 "2013-01-21T10:43:19Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Herman Wouk covered this controversy thoroughly in his definitive work The Windsor War. Oh dear lord, that was bloody painful. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/76 "2013-01-21T13:01:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > So how much does a maitre d’ pull down these days? Oh, come now. Maitre d’ is not the only career where a man can wear a bow tie to work. There are also clowns and economics professors. Okay, maybe only one other job then. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/77 "2013-01-21T23:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **BigT** : > > I’ve never understood why no one has every come up with a knot that actually lets you adjust the tie to the right length after the tie is tied. nor why no one has come up with a better simulation than the clip-on. Seems you could have a tie that appears to go all the way around your neck, but still essentially clips on. They exist. Back in high school, ties were required, and “necktie simulations” explicitly didn’t count, but one guy had one that passed inspection. The narrow bit that goes behind the main part had a zipper in the middle of it, and separated into two halves of the loop that goes around your neck. The zipper pull had the knot tied around it, with the main part hanging down from it. Just slip it around your neck, and zip it up. And I’m not sure what knot it is I use: It’s similar to the Half Windsor but skips one of the steps, and is a bit asymmetrical but not enough to be a problem. I think it might be the “self-releasing half Windsor” someone mentioned: If you pull the knot off the end of the narrow part, and give the wide part a tug, the knot falls apart. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/78 "2013-01-21T23:18:05Z")
There are several models of “fake ties” that snap at the back of the collar rather than clip on the front. They look better than the clip-ons, but not nearly as good as a real tie. Pratt wearer here. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/79 "2013-01-21T23:22:26Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > Fellow bow tie wearer here, just feeling superior. Bow ties are cool. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501/80 "2013-01-22T00:50:43Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Sure, but once they see me face to face they’re very impressed! Ha! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windsor-knot-or-windsor-not/647501.md?page=5)