Table of Contents

Disclaimer
The Really Boring History Part: Where
Neckties & Knots Come From
Patterns & Knots: When & How To Use
the Right Knot
The Windsor Knot
The Windsor Illustrated
Tying the Windsor, Step By
Step
Tips for Tying the Windsor
The Eldredge Knot
The Eldredge Illustrated
The Eldredge Knot, Step By
Step
Tips to keep in mind
The Ediety Knot (AKA, The
Merovingian Knot)
The Ediety Illustrated
The Ediety Knot, Step By Step
Tips for Tying the Ediety Knot
The Trinity Knot
The Trinity Illustrated
The Trinity Knot, Step By
Step
Tips to Keep In Mind When
Tying the Trinity
The Atlantic Knot
The Atlantic Illustrated
The Atlantic Knot, Step By
Step
Tips to Keep in Mind for the
Atlantic Knot
The Han Knot (AKA, The Cape Knot)
 The Han Illustrated
Tying the Han/Cape Knot,
Step By Step
Tips for the Han/Cape Knot
Video Resources

ebooksdownloadace.blogspot.in
Disclaimer
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please contact the publisher.

-
2013 by Michael Melrose /
awesometieknots.com / All rights
reserved
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The Really Boring History
Part: Where Neckties &
Knots Come From

The modern necktie is actually pretty

old.

Let me bore you with a bit of history

before we get into the real meat of this
book, the knots. (If you want to skip to
knots right now, tap here. I don't blame
you because history is reeeaaallly
boring.)

Mercenary Beginnings
What we call the "necktie" can be traced
way back to 1618, when it was worn by
mercenaries in the Thirty Years War - it
was called the "cravat" and immediately
caught the eye of the more stylish
population in Paris (no surprises there)
and spread around Europe.

In the 1600s men wore cravats made out

of lace, and it took them ages to tie and
arrange a cravat just right. Eventually
through the 1700s cravats gave way to a
variation called the "Stock" which had a
high, stiff collar - again, originally from
the military where the stiff nature of the
Stock reminded soldiers they had to
keep their chins up and look proper.
But the cravat was not gone forever, and
through the 1800s it made a resurgence
as fashionistas coming back to England
from Italy brought it back with them -
and those heros of style being what they
always have been, several books were
published on the various ways to tie
your cravat.

It was also around this time that

someone (cmon, someone awesome)
coined the word "tie" in connection with
the cravat. And it stuck.

Into the Modern Age

'Round about 1860-ish the modern
necktie as we know it today was born.
The Industrial Revolution was in full
swing and men wanted a fashionable
style that didn't take long to put on, could
be worn comfortably all day (Neckties
comfortable? Well, when you're coming
from the stiff, high collars of the
1820s), and didn't loosen or untie as
you worked and went about your
business on those newfangled steam
engines.

Neckties as we know and love/hate them

today basically go back this period. The
first knots people tied were simple
affairs, as were the neckties themselves:
straight, thin, and usually black. The
common tie knot from this period was by
today's standards pretty bland.

In 1926, a man named Jesse Langdorf

(one of the few true heros of the necktie)
invented a way of making ties by cutting
them 'on the bias', or against the grain of
the fabric, and then stitching the tie
together in three segments - this was a
true revelation because it gave the tie
some elasticity and also made fall it
straight and flat from the knot rather than
twisting. By the time the 20's were
finished, the necktie was being made
with the inner lining and stitching we see
today. The 'slip stitch' was starting to be
used in the tie at this point also, which
was another great milestone - it allowed
the fabric to move with the seams rather
than stretch or even tear.

I'll spare you the small, period style

changes that have happened since the
20's, but will say that hand painted ties,
vests, and waistlines all influenced how
men wore a tie through the 30s and up
to the 50s. Through the 60's fashion
designers began to use bolder and
brighter colors, and it was at this point
also that clothiers began selling shirt/tie
combos for the guys who didn't want to
bother trying to match them themselves,
and/or didnt have a lady friend around
to help them out.
The 80's made ties super skinny, but
thankfully this didn't last because using a
skinny tie really limits your choice of tie
knots. But the 90's widened them out
again and brought the full array of tie
knots back into play.

Nowadays, basically anything goes

when it comes to neckties. You can wear
your football team around your neck, or
your favorites Looney Toons guy, or go
old school and wear the British
regimental stripes - basically, anything
you want to wear can be worn if you
have the chutzpa to pull it off.
Sometimes more chutzpa is required for
a certain tie, so be sure and vary either
the amount of chutzpa or the style of tie
to make it work best.

All this history aside, let me say this

before we move on: The traditional
styles like paisleys, stripes, and solids
are absolutely the best choice when
you start tying unique knots. The
whole point of tying a cool knot is
because it's cool, so you want people to
notice it. Wearing a Marvin the Martian
design makes people look at the Martian,
not the knot, so save that tie for poker
night.

Some tie patterns work better with some

knots rather than others. Which patterns
work best with which knots? Turn the
page and we'll dig into that...
Patterns & Knots: When &
How To Use the Right Knot

Basically, the bolder the pattern on the

tie the simpler the tie knot should be, and
vice versa, the simpler the pattern the
more complex a knot you can get away
with.

Its not a hard and fast rule though, and if

you really like complex knots like The
Eldredge then by all means tie it
whenever you feel like tying it. Society
isnt going to demonize you if you pair a
fancy knot with a really detailed or bold
patterned tie - youll always be more
awesome than, say, Richard Simmons
because Richard Simmons never wore a
tie in the first place. It works best this
way but its no big deal whichever knot
you use with whichever tie you choose.

But if you want the knot to stand out,

keep it in mind as you pick out a tie and
tie the knot. People look at the boldest
thing first - its why companies spend
billions of dollars every year on
marketing. Its just how the human eye
works, and it works that way for ties,
too.

If you have more detail in your knot then

thats where people are going to look,
and a detailed or bold tie pattern is
going to detract from the attention people
would otherwise give the knot.

Also, complex tie knots have more folds

and flips, which can get lost on a tie that
has a pattern with a lot of detail. Solids
absolutely work the best for these
complex knots because you can easily
see the folds of the knot itself.

Use this handy dandy chart to make the

most of both your ties and your tie knots:
As long as you remember the delicate,
ballerina-like balance between knot and
pattern youll be a stunner. Im joking
about the ballerina part.

The guiding principle is: Complex knot

with simple tie. Simple knot with
complex tie. Done.
One more thing to keep in mind when
you tie these knots: As with any tie tie
knot, you want the front of the tie to fall
basically halfway down your belt
buckle. You wont have it exact each
time, but aim for the belt buckle and
youll hit it most of the time. The only
knot where this doesnt apply is the
Ediety Knot, since that can easily wind
up being much shorter at both the wide
and thin ends (for this reason, only wear
the Ediety Knot when you have a vest or
suit to cover the bottom of the tie.)

Now, the whole reason you got this

book: Prepare to meet the awesomest tie
knots in the world.
The Windsor Knot

The Windsor is actually a fairly common

knot, at least in name (including the
variations of Half and Full Windsor),
but it can be a lot more complicated than
it needs to be with so many instructions
for it online - and with a lot of people
teaching variations of the knot, or even
passing off the Half Windsor as the
regular or Full Windsor (the Half
Windsor skips one of the last loops and
can look a bit lopsided and uneven).
Learning to properly tie the Windsor
will help you out quite a bit with the
Ediety Knot later on.

The Windsor is sometimes called the

Double or Full Windsor and its one of
the most enduring knots. It got its name
in Great Britain, supposedly named for
the Duke of Windsor. It is also the
ONLY knot used by all personnel in the
Royal Air Force in black tie uniform -
because its such a dressy and formal
looking knot. By contrast, Ian Fleming
wrote that James Bond never trusted a
man who wore a Windsor... but what did
he know?

The reason the Windsor is so enduring is

because its so symmetrical. Theres no
off-balance look to the knot - its very
even, balanced, and full.

The Windsor Illustrated

Tying the Windsor, Step By Step
1. Put the tie around your neck with the
wide end to your right side. Its a
normal-tied knot, so you need plenty
of length on the wide end. The thin
end, in fact, basically only needs to be
long enough to stabilize the knot
(about six inches long is fine).

2. Pass the wide end of the tie over the

thin end and around the back, passing
behind the knot and up through the
neck. Bring the wide end back down
front to the left side.

3. Pass the wide end around back from

 left to right.

4. From Step 3, bring the wide end up

over the front on the right side and
down through neck in the back.

5. Bring the wide end from Step 4

around the front of the tie from left to
right.

6. Bring the wide part up through the

neck from behind and over the front of
the knot.

7. Pass the wide end through that front

 loop you made in Step 5.

8. Tighten the knot up, center it on your

neck, and fold the collar down. Done!

Tips for Tying the Windsor

1. In Step 4, you can easily adjust the
knot to be more symmetrical. You
want the knot to be even on both
sides, and this is a key point in tying
the knot where you can make a slight
correction without getting to the end
and having to untie everything.

2. Unlike the other knots in this book,

you tie the Windsor with the wide end
 of the tie. Which means you dont
adjust the wide end at the beginning
and then tie the knot around it with the
thin end. Its a little tricky at first to
get the length just right (about halfway
down your belt buckle), but a little
practice will let you know how much
length you need.

3. Keep in mind that with thicker knots,

thicker fabric ties REALLY can get
bulky. Ive tied this knot with thin and
medium ties, which work best. The
really heavy ties tend to have trouble
with twisting fabric (which can ruin
the tie) and the end result is a really
bulky tie knot. The more bulk you
have in a knot, the more unbalanced it
can look.
The Eldredge Knot

The Eldredge and the Ediety (which is

up next) are the two most complex knots
in this book - so reserve them for your
simple pattern or solid ties to get the
most bang out of them.

The Eldredge is a thin-tied knot - which

means you hold the wide end of the tie
where you want it to sit and then use the
thin end to go through the motions of
actually tying the knot.

The Eldredge Illustrated

The Eldredge Knot, Step By Step
The Eldredge looks fantastic when its
well tied, and surprisingly its not that
complicated to do - its a very easy knot
to learn.

1. Adjust the front of the tie (wide end)

on the left side a couple inches above
where you want it to sit, which is at
the belt buckle.

2. Using the thin end of the tie, cross

over the front from right to left, and
then come back behind from left to
right.
3. Bring the thin end up the front over the
right side of the knot and pass it down
behind through the neck.

4. Pull the thin end off to the bottom left

of the knot and wrap it around the
front of the knot. The tricky part is all
done - from now on, youll just be
passing the thin end back and forth
until you have the herringbone effect
of the knot.

5. From Step 4, bring the thin end up

behind the knot through the neck and
pass it over to the right side.
6. Bring the thin end behind the knot
from right to left, and bring it up over
the front of the knot, tucking
underneath that loop on the front you
made in Step 5 (its like making a
simple knot within the knot). Tighten
it up a bit so everything lays flat.

7. Again, bring the thin end around the

back to the front right of the tie,
looping around the right neck part of
the tie, and pull it back down behind
the knot.

8. Bring the thin end down behind the

knot to left side, and like in Step 6, up
over the front of the knot but again
 passing it underneath the topmost loop
- the one you just made in Step 7.
Again, its like a simple knot-within-
a-knot. Tighten it down again so the
knot lays flat.

9. Adjust the front of the tie, bringing the

knot up to your neck and make sure
its centered.

10. Holding the thin end wrapped up

alongside your neck, fold the collar
down so everythings hidden
underneath.
Tips to keep in mind
1. Adjust the wide end of the tie a little
higher than you want it to be. This is
because once the knot is done and you
tighten the knot up to your neck the
front of the tie will lengthen. I give it
a couple inches, but it depends on
where you tie the knot (close to your
neck or several inches away). Play
around with which feels best and
youll get to know how to adjust the
tie at the beginning to have it end up
where you want.

2. Some have experimented with

wrapping the short end down through
the last loop on the back of the tie and
 letting the thin end hang behind the
wide end, like a normal or regular
tie knot. I dont recommend this
because it gives the tie a somewhat
lopsided appearance on that last pass
through the knot.

3. Youll have to tie this knot a few

times to get the finished length
correct. Thats the biggest issue with
the knot. After a few times, youll
have a pretty good idea of where you
need to hold the wide end as you start
the knot. Its higher than you think at
first!

4. The Eldredge does not work well

with a striped tie! Thats because the
stripes wind up going in all different
directions and the detail of the knot
gets lost. For best results, use a plain
solid tie.
The Ediety Knot (AKA, The
Merovingian Knot)
The Eldredge and the Ediety are the
most stunning knots you can tie - both
will leave the viewer with no idea how
you tied them, only that you must be a
wizard for knowing how to do it.

The Ediety is somewhat more

complicated than the Eldredge, simply
because it can be tied two ways:
1. You can tie the Full Windsor
backwards, then loosen the knot (but
dont untie it), take the tie off, flip it
over, put it back on, and tighten it up.
2. You can tie the knot as a whole new
knot in itself - no flipping - which is
the correct way Ill be showing you.
The first method might work very well if
you already are very familiar with the
Windsor. Just flip the tie when youre
done and voila! Ediety Knot! But in my
opinion its best to keep each knot
separate and learn the Ediety Knot as a
knot in its own right. However, with
that in mind, even when you tie the
Ediety with the second method its still
the basic moves of the Windsor so it
should come quite naturally for you if
youre familiar with that knot.

The Ediety Illustrated

The Ediety Knot, Step By Step
The fact that youre aiming for the little
end to wind up on the front of the knot
can confuse some guys because it flies in
the face of everything you know about tie
knots. Just keep following the steps,
check the illustrations, use the reference
links to the video if you need to, and
keep going. Youll get it fine with a little
practice.

1. Put the tie around your neck with the

wide end to your right, and give it
PLENTY of length because this knot
eats just as much fabric as the Full
Windsor.
2. Bring the wide end to the left under
the thin end.

3. Bring it up over the front and then

down through the neck, pulling it back
to the left side.

4. Bring the wide end from left to right

across the front of the tie. This is the
part that makes that little mini-knot in
the Ediety.

5. Bring it behind the knot on the right,

up through the neck and back down to
the front on the right side.
6. Bring the wide end around the back of
the know from right to left.

7. Put the wide end up over the front of

the knot and down through the neck,
put pass it through that back loop you
just made in Step 6.

8. Tighten the knot up, center it good,

and youre all set!

Tips for Tying the Ediety Knot

1 . Be sure and give yourself PLENTY
(hey, theres that word in all caps
again!) of length on the wide end of
the knot since theres so many moves
 in this knot. Leave it longer than you
think youll need, but within reason.
As with all these knots, after a few
times practicing it youll have it
nailed down like a pro.

2. Be aware before that when you wear

this knot you need to wear either a
vest or a blazer/suit coat. The
reason is because the bottom end of
the tie dont look pretty.. The short
end can wind up being longer than
the wide end, or the tie can be really
short on both ends and look more
like a bib. Wearing a vest or blazer
hides the bottom ends of the tie so no
one sees them - all they see is the
 awesome knot itself.

3 . A tie clip works great with this knot

- clip the tie (both wide and thing
ends) to your shirt, but pull them up a
smidgeon so the tie is a bit puffy at
up near the knot. Doing this makes it
look more cravat.
The Trinity Knot

Like the Eldredge and the Ediety knots,

the Trinity is an eye catcher. Unlike
those two knots, the Trinity isnt a tight
knot. You need to keep things a little
looser than youre used to if you want
the knot to work right.

The Trinity Illustrated

The Trinity Knot, Step By Step
Remember: Dont tighten down the knot
with each move like you do on other tie
knots. Let the fabric fold more or less on
its own to add the volume to the knot
that it needs in order to look best.

1. With the thin end of the tie hanging

down on the right side, bring it to the
left side over the wide end.

2. Now the thin end goes up behind

through the neck, and bring it down to
the left.

3. Bring the thin end around the back of

 the knot to the right side, then up over
the front and down through the neck.

4. Now heres where the knot starts

taking shape: From Step 3, bring the
thin end loosely around the front from
left to right, and up through neck from
behind the knot.

5. Carry the thin end over the top of the

knot but tuck it through the loose front
loop you made in Step 4, keeping this
loop loose also.

6. After passing the thin end through the

loose loop from Step 4, bring it
 around behind the knot from left to
right, and pass it over the top of the
knot through the loose loop #2 you
made in Step 5.

7. Adjust the knot as needed to give it

the Trinity shape, and tuck the thin end
up under the collar with the neck band
of the tie, and fold the collar down.

Tips to Keep In Mind When Tying the T

1 . Try and save this knot for your
thicker ties. And by thicker I mean
ties that are a heavier material. The
reason is that the Trinity needs to be
tied a bit looser than normal knots,
 and the heavier fabric lets the knot
stay loose but still have body. Thin
fabric ties dont work well for the
Trinity because they twist and
dimple in the knot itself, which ruins
the look of the knot altogether.

2 . As with other thin-tied knots, adjust

the wide end of the tie up higher than
normal as you start tying the knot - a
couple inches higher than normal is a
good starting point if you want the
finished tie to fall to your belt
buckle. Practice and patience will
teach you exactly where to adjust the
wide end of the tie as you start the
knot.
3 . Remember to tie the last three loops
of the knot loosely - the Trinity needs
the loops to have some volume to
them. If you over tighten the knot, you
will get dimples on the three loops in
the front, which ruins the look of the
knot.

4 . The Trinity can work with striped

ties pretty good - but depending
whether you tie it left or right handed
means you get either a pinwheel
effect (stripes go out from the center
of the knot) or a triangle effect
(stripes go around the center).
Experiment with both and see which
one you like!
The Atlantic Knot

The Atlantic Knot is hands-down the

simplest knot youll learn in this book,
but it works great with a heavy fabric tie
and works wonders when youre in a
hurry and need something sharp and
unusual.

Like the Eldredge and the Trinity knots,

the Atlantic is a thin-tied knot, meaning
that just as with those two knots you
have to adjust the wide end of the tie
before you begin tying the knot. The
same as with the Trinity and Eldredge,
keep it a couple inches above where you
want it to fall, which is usually at the
belt buckle. As you tighten the knot the
wide end, or front, of the tie will
lengthen.
The Atlantic Illustrated
The Atlantic Knot, Step By Step
1. With the wide end of the tie around
your neck on your right, adjust it a
couple inches above where you want
it to hang once its all tied.

2. Wrap the thin end over the top from

left to right and up through the neck
from behind the knot, bringing it down
on the opposite side on the left.

3. Bring the thin end around behind the

knot from left to right.

4. Bring the thin end up over the front the

knot and down through the neck,
 passing through that loop you made in
Step 3.

5. Cinch the knot up to your neck, and

center it before you fold the collar
down.

Tips to Keep in Mind for the Atlantic Kn

1. Tie the knot relatively loosely. This
knot doesnt eat as much of the tie as
the others, so the thin end of the tie
may end up falling lower than the
wide end (not something you want!).
Tying the knot loosely adds a bit more
volume to the knot, making it look
more substantial, and it also uses up
more of the length of the tie so you
can counter this problem.
The Han Knot (AKA, The
Cape Knot)
From the best I can tell, the Han was
first tied by a stylish gentleman named
Henry Hu (the link to the original video
he posted on YouTube is in the
Resources chapter). Hu himself states he
isnt aware if its been tied before, but
gives the name Han for the knot. Its
since made a surge in popularity on
various websites, where its being
called the Cape knot - whichever name
is correct I dont know but Cape is the
more popular name. Both are relatively
new knots.

The Han, according Mr. Hu, was

originally the result of trying to tie The
Ediety Knot and getting it slightly wrong.
However, the result is still a very unique
and cool knot - so lets tie it up right and
give it a proper place in the world of tie
knots.

The knot got the name Cape because it

look like the knot has a little cape
behind it - A gentleman named Alex
Krasny supplied this name. Its a cool
effect.

The Han Illustrated

Tying the Han/Cape Knot, Step By Step
1. Place the tie around your neck, with
the thin end on your right side. Adjust
the wide end of the tie a couple inches
above where you want it to fall when
the knot is finished. This is a thin-tied
knot, so youll be tying the knot with
the thin end of the tie.

2. Bring the thin end over the top of the

knot to your left, and then up behind
through the neck.

3. Bring the thin end down to your right

side and pass it behind the knot to the
left side, but continue around the front
 of the knot back to the right side (you
just made a 180 degree loop around
the knot).

4. Pass the thin end up behind the knot

through the neck, and bring it down to
the front on right side again.

5. Bring the thin end around the back to

the left side, then up and over the knot
and down through the neck.

6. Pass the thin end through that last loop

on the back (the back loop you made
in the beginning of Step 5.
7. Tighten up the knot and center it on
your neck. Fold the collar down and
youre all set to go!

Tips for the Han/Cape Knot

1. This knot doesnt work well with a
striped tie. As with the Eldredge knot,
the stripes confuse the detail of the
knot and the wow factor is almost
completely lost. By all means tie with
stripes if for your own enjoyment but
dont expect many people to notice if
you do.
Video Resources

Atlantic Video How-to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=x_fudDEG30o

Ediety Video How-to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=qFdk-IT2cmg

Eldredge Video How-to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EhqBCryhsHQ
Han/Cape Video How-to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gUVBQ00iwTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-
n2xkYX6s

Full Windsor Video How-to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=a1oKs8fvYQg

Trinity Video How-to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
yqLAcNwDbk