How to Tie a Tie with the Pratt Knot

The Pratt knot is a wider, straighter knot than the four-in-hand, but a little trickier to accomplish. This knot also differs from the four-in-hand and Windsor knots by starting with tie inside out. With a little practice and the instructions below, you can easily learn how to tie a tie with the Pratt knot.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Pull shirt collar up to get it out of the way. Start the tie with the seams facing outward. The narrow end of the tie should hang a few inches below the bottom of the shirt pocket.
2. Cross the narrow end of the tie over the wide end.
3. Bring the wide end of the tie up towards the collar.
4. Push the wide end through the loop around the collar. The wide end will return to the left of center position it was in at step 2.
5. Tighten the new loop, getting it closer to the collar.
6. Bring the wide end of the tie over to the right.
7. Wrap the wide end of the tie underneath, and through the collar loop. You can see the tie knot forming.
8. Thread the wide end of the tie through the top loop of the knot. Pull down gently. The narrow end of the tie, now hidden, remains with the seam side up.
9. Tighten the knot by pulling on the wide end. Hold onto the collar loop and the back of the tie knot as it can tend to roll out of position.
10. If you desire, you can roll the loop of the collar over know to hide the seam. You can see that this causes the knot to be more square than triangular.
11. Fold the collar back down. Your tie with the Pratt knot is ready to wear.

Tips & Warnings

• How long the tie is, how tight you make the initial loops, and where you hold the loops as you tighten the knot all affect the size and symmetry of this knot. Keep practicing to work out all the nuances of making the perfect Pratt knot.