Hatrack River Forum: Tie-aTie?

This is topic Tie-aTie? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=026321

Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :

How old are you supposed to be to learn how to tie a tie?

'Cause yesterday, I had to go to a wedding and had to get my roomates to tie it for me. This got me wondering how much longer I should wait to learn the complex and intricate process of tieing a tie.

Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :

I could tie a tie when I was 12. [Razz]

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Growing up, it was always understood that boys learned how to tie ties by the time they were 12. I was surprised to discover, when I got to college, that some people had not had this lesson.

Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :

*takes this opportunity to point out that she is, in fact, a girl* [Wink]

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

I have taught many boys in the 13 to 18 range how to tie one. I feel so . . . fatherly when I do! The simple knot that's in now is not hard to learn. I pretty much taught myself by just looking at it.

EDIT . . . come to think of it, I think I have taught at least one girl as well . . .

[ August 01, 2004, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: Icarus ]

Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :

My friend Jan taught me how to tie one. I forgot though.
I miss her

Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :

I was 13, and people taught me a shortcut cheater way. My dad fixed it about a year after. My brother has a cheater zipper tie, and doesn't have to tie it.

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

Um, tieing (sp?) a tie is simple enough . . . what on earth would constitute a "shortcut cheater way"?

Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :

The knot itself is easy enough. But to get that dimple just right... that took me a few weeks. [Smile]

Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :

Feh. My dad tried when I was ten, it wasn't until I was 17(?) in high school when we had a professional lighting guy working with the drama club that I learned how to tie a tie.

But seriously, if you've never worn a tie - odds are, you won't have learned.

Of course, once you finally do learn the trick, it's all good.

-Trevor

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

Ic, perhaps he's distinguishing between a single-windsor and a double-windsor? Or maybe a "standard" and one of the windsors?

Linkage

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

Actually, the one I always teach, and that I see most frequently worn nowadays, is the four-in-hand. It's easy and skinny, unlike the short and fat windsor.

Okay . . . I get you. You're saying that he learned one of the others first and now does one of the windsors. Gotcha.

[ August 01, 2004, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: Icarus ]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

<-- cannot tie a tie ANY of the ways, but knows the terms [Wink]

Posted by Happy Camper (Member # 5076) on :

I learned relatively early, like maybe in Middle school. Since I was in the band, I had to dress up from time to time for concerts. And my parents really like cruises and so I owned a suit from a young age for those occasions (formal dinners). The knot I learned to tie was the Single Windsor, which is still my favorite. For some reason though, my older brother never could quite get that one, and uses the 4 in hand, which is a simpler knot, and now he likes it more for it's narrow knot. Funny thing is, even though I rarely wear a tie anymore, tying it is muscle memory for me. I can't do it unless I actually have a tie to tie. And in college I tied my roommates ties on several occasions, so it's not uncommon for late teens and even early 20s to not know.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

I hate assymetrical knots in ties, so I only use the knot that gives me a good balanced appearance.

I can't tie a bow tie to save my life.

I tie my shoes in an odd and idiosyncratic fashion that I taught myself at a young age.

I can tie a really cool "monkey paw" knot in a piece of string which looks good and does nothing.

Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :

Mind you, the monkey's paw isn't completely useless, you can use it to weight the end of a line that is too light by itself to throw.

Just, generally, the looking cool part is far more important than the line throwing bit, what with all the line throwing that we do.

edit: see here or here

[ August 01, 2004, 11:28 PM: Message edited by: HollowEarth ]

Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :

I wore a tie only once and, hopefully, won't have to repeat the feature again. Ever. Not even at my eventual wedding...

Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :

Hmm, the only way I've ever used is the Four-in-hand I suppose.

I learned how to tie a tie when I was a fish in HS. A high-school senior sort of adopted me as a younger brother, and took it upon herself to teach me.

Maybe I'll have to learn how to tie one the standard way, though I really am fond of the smaller knots at the collar. I'd say I've worn a tie... oh, at least 50 times since then. I'd say it was worth it (then again, I never could stand to ask my dad for help with just about anything).

Feyd Baron, DoC

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

Learning to tie a tie was just part of being a boy in our church-going family. When I was really young I had a clip-on-tie (as my son does now), but somewhere around age 8 to 12, I got a real tie, and my dad struggled to teach me how to tie it. He could tie a tie just fine, but not when he thought about it. [Smile]