How to Tie a Four-in-Hand Necktie Knot: Your 60 Second Visual Guide

I like the note about what collar type this works best with. I usually wear bow ties, myself, but having a few good necktie methods is always a safe thing to have.

This is my go-to knot, mostly because of its simplicity. However, if I could have such clear diagrams of other knots I would love having access to a wider variety of styles.

Easily the clearest explanation/visual that I’ve seen of this. I would gladly accept more.

More please! I like that you mention the type of collars with which to use this knot.

Excellent guide, thank you again, Ted for a great illustration. Would love to see the Pratt-Shelby demonstrated.

The Art of Manliness is a great father figure! I’d love to see more of these, the illustration style is perfect!

Great stuff! Keep it coming.

Four in hand?! WTH, I think that was actually in my Cub Scout book.

For grownups, Hal is dead on. Windsor or half-Windsor.

For what it’s worth, my favorite place for tie knots is http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~tmf20/tieknots.shtml. It has 85 different knots, with some good info about the more common/notable ones, plus extra info on ties generally. The notation may take a little getting used to (the four-in-hand is “Li Ro Li Co T”, for example), but it’s nicely illustrated and once you get it, you’ll see how easy it is to tie any tie using the notation that page does.

Sir, I’d like to have some more :D

Ha. That’s excellent and so easy. Much better than this post which is more of an example of how NOT to tie a tie:
http://www.dailyvowelmovements.com/2010/05/how-to-tie-tie.html

I need one for a bow tie! But this was awesome.

Another comment requesting a bow tie “illu-structional” here.

Good job on the tie explanation. That’s the way I do my ties.

This visual was great … I’d love to see the same setup for how to do a bowtie. On a separate note, the name ‘four in hand’ … I’d always heard of this particular knot referred to as a ‘single windsor’ … Are they one in the same?

Well done! I really like the simplicity, and appreciate the comment about the shirt style to pair it with. I would enjoy more in the same vein, as it would allow me to increase my tying styles.

Yesterday I learned that a shirt with a button-down collar is a sport shirt, not a dress shirt (it comes from Polo players buttoning their collars down to stop them flapping in their faces), and you’re not really supposed to wear a tie with it.

Captain Pedant, awaaaaay!

Great!

I enjoy these visual guides! Great stuff & helpful reminders!

One thing I hate, but notice all the time, is when you can see the part that goes around the neck off to the sides of the knot! This gives the tie an awful Y shape. At the collar, ONLY the knot should be visible!

Good stuff. Keep them coming!

A nice drawing, but agree with a lot of comments here, Windsor and half Windsor are what I wear. I need a refresher now and then and a diagram like this for those knots would be great.

This is the only tie knot I use. Love to learn others, please post more!

Preach it Hal – this knot needs to die away from your repitoir as soon as you start grooming yourself. No Disrespect to AOM but once I learned how to tie and wear a half and full windsor I started looking down on those whom wear a 4-in-hand – it’s just plain sloppy and poor form.

Though I already know this one, I’d like to see more. I have no idea how to even get started on a bowtie for a tux.

Bow tie please.

I will echo the comments posted above — can someone explain the difference between a four-in-hand and a half-Windsor?

@Jeremy, you are right, the four-in-hand is an acceptable knot, but generally only with the materials mentioned in the Brooks Brothers descriptions. If it’s done with a narrow tie, or one with a light material, it looks shoddy and juvenile.

I can recall my days in Navy officer training, teaching my other class members how to tie a full Windsor, which was the perfect knot for the Navy standard issue necktie.

This is great! More please.

No, Matt. You’re wrong. “[...] those who wear[...]” is a subject, not an object. Here is a hint: if what you’re replacing would have been “they”, you use “who”. If you are replacing “them”, you use “whom”. In this context, you would have said “they who wear”, not “them who wear “.

No, I am not trolling. I’m pointing out a fairly obvious mistake. I don’t mean to sound like a jerk, but you apparently misunderstood your own supposed supporting link!

Looks like it is just the half-Windsor to me. My tendancy with dress shirts is wrinkle-free cotton-mostly with button-down collar, and when there is a necktie, it is full Windsor – which I think looks much neater (probably because of the balanced appearance) than the half-Windsor.
Flannel shirts, button-down collar is also preferable – and no light-weight flannel. Free flying collars are for Hawaiian shirts.

Yes, more, please. I’d like to see 1 or 2 more useful methods. Thx

I really enjoy these Visual Guide. Keep them coming!

In my experience, all the other knots for a traditional neck tie are pretty much variations on the 4 in hand. Also there’s a couple of really good (funny, but still useful) videos on youtube on how to tie a windsor (double and single) knot.

This post is great. I am dyslexic, and used to have trouble tying my school tie. As a result, I have never worn a tie since I left school over ten years ago (my job does not require one).

Please do make some more of these instructive drawings for the other tie knots.

Thank you

More please!

To all those posting that the four-in-hand should fade away after middle school, etc…

I say this knot can still be used quite well. I love to use in on days when I still want to wear a tie, but don’t want to be too formal.

Since the triangle of the knot itself usually ends up slightly crooked, it has an air of casualness to it.

A little “artful dishevelment” if you will.

I’d love to see more visual tie knot guides … Right now this particular knot is the only one I know for my ties.

more please

I love the four-in-hand. I wear a tie almost every day, and unless I am going to a setting where a more formal look is explicitly called for, I go to the four-in-hand.

I have to confess to being semi-picky on the matter. I think a man ought to always wear good pants. Jeans or shorts are only acceptable if you’re doing work or some other sort of physical activity. A shirt and tie are necessary. A tie works well all the time with a nice shirt. Some say that ties are not for button-down collars, short-sleeve shirts, or that ties must be worn with a jacket or coat. I disagree.

My advice to all guys out there, wear dress pants or khakis, ties, and shirts that go well with these. You can find a lot of nice ties for next to nothing in second hand stores if your budget is limited.

The prevailing culture has pressured us into going casual for decades now. Go a few steps up and women will pay more attention to you and people will generally treat you with more respect.

Just don’t go to the opposite extreme and dress overly formal. And for heaven’s sake, no fedoras if you’re under 45.

It’s funny but I have been using this knot for almost forty years and never knew its name. Cool. And thanks.

Great illustration, but like many have already said Windsor and Half Windsor are classier and should be shown. My senior drill sergeant in AIT showed us the Windsor for our Class A’s. He referred to this knot as the “poor man’s knot” because of its sloppy appearance and the tendency for it to pull to one side.

I like the vis guides. more please.

More, please!!! I’m glad to see that you are encouraging the use of ties. I’m a bit strange (by most people’s standards) as I wear a tie much of the time. In fact, I will wear a tie during the day at home while I study, then take it off in the evening when company come over so they don’t think that I am TOO dressed up!

I appreciate the guides and would like more of them. I end up tying all my co-workers ties for them during their first few weeks after we hire them as they aren’t accustomed to wearing western clothing (they are all Arabs), and these would be great to have as a reference.

One thing I’ve noticed living abroad is that each culture has a different preference when it comes to ties. The vast majority of people I see wearing a four-in-hand in the Gulf region are British or Australian, while most Americans I’ve seen tie a half-Windsor. I usually wear a full-Windsor but my preference is a skinny tie with a tight knot so it doesn’t get too big under the collar nor look unbalanced.

Anyway, thanks for the article and I would love to see more.

As someone who can do this knot, but stinks with others, I’d love to see more!

I am shocked at the lack of love for the four in hand. As an article someone else linked to it is really the only knot you need to know (other than a bow tie). Contrary to what has been said on here, it is not amateur; what is amateur is thinking you are superior for wearing a half windsor.

@lion you do not want the knot to be symmetrical. A dimple is nice but not necessary and I find that the ease of making one depends on the tie. The length is really the only think you need to worry about.

A full series of these guides would be great!

I think you have to teach other knots since you started with the four in hand. The four in hand knot is for children and people that consider themselves a DJ. Now you need to live up to your name and show knots that Men wear.

My father taught me the half-windsor as a kid and I didn’t even know other knots existed until I was older. For those of you wondering how to tie it, it’s not too difficult. After the first time around, go back in through the ‘V’ from the front before going around a second time from the opposite side. It gives a slightly larger and more symmetrical knot.

I think the most important thing is to pick the knot that fits your shirt and style. It should be wide enough to cover the part of your tie that goes around your neck and under the collar. I rarely use a four in hand but like the calculated “askewness” of it. I’m also a fan of the St Andrew which gives a tight knot with good drape. The full Windsor is a bit large for my taste. Also just started rocking the bow tie and loving it.

I want to see guides for other knots! No need to stick with ties either. Why not show how to tie various knots with rope?

This looks like the way I was taught to do the half Windsor by my Mother. My father was a farmer and went straight into his Dad’s trade as was expected in his day so didn’t really learn to tie a tie.

My Mum taught me that there were three types of knots for a tie; a Half Windsor [ok for women, and men in casual situations] the full Windsor [for men in formal situations] and the Alcatraz which went out of fashion after hanging was outlawed.