Duncan Mulholland (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} binar) wrote,@ 2008-09-30 12:54:00 |
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Tie care
Unlike myself I know many people who think tie's are like shoelaces.... Functional only and able to stand up to brutal treatment.... only used to cover the top button of a shirt.
Many people don’t even know how to use a Tie properly. If I had the power to re-write a law I would imprison all those who use "Slip-On" ties. [Never to be confused with Clip-On ties, as these serve a completely different function and in many lines of work are a necessity.]
Slip-On ties are ties where the man in question has tied the tie once, and then proceeds’ to loosen the knot and slip the tie over his head to put it on and take it off.
This practice will over time ingrain the knot into the structure of the fabric, meaning if you even fully untie the knot it will NEVER sit flat again... and upon tying the knot again you will always be able to see the lines of the previous tying.
The other most heinous crime with ties is not untying them properly when you take them off.
Most people I’ve met simply grab the tie by the knot and work it down and left and right until they can grab the thin end of the tie near the neck and then pull the tie apart and let the knot (if indeed it was tied properly) fall out, or untie the knot manually (if it was tied incorrectly)
This will stretch the tie out and make the back side of the tie look lopsided and generally it will destroy the life of the tie and after only a few short months it will look ugly on you, mainly because it will hand wrong. No matter what how to tie the knot, the two ends of the tie will not hang straight down, they will hang to one side.
This is caused by the stretching of the fabric on one side of the tie as you pull it off.
Eventually if this continues, you will have to push your tie knot so far to one side in order to get the body of the tie to remain straight that your tie will start to resemble the shape of a banana.
The proper way to treat a tie is as follows;
When hanging a tie:
Always double over the tie slipping the thin end into the small clasp of fabric on the back of the thick end to hold it in place, then. Double it over again and slip again into the fabric clasp on the back of the thick end.
[The fabric clasp is designed to keep the two ends of the tie together so when wearing it they don’t flap about separately] By hanging them this way the area of the tie that is supporting all the ties weight will be doubly enforced and thus won’t be as susceptible to stretching when hung for LONG periods of time.
When wearing a tie:
Many different styles of tying a tie exist and I am not going to preach here about which is best as it is usually either a personal choice, a choice based upon your shirt collar type or upon the quality and thickness of the ties material.
One thing that does hang true however is this, when the tie is tied it should NEVER descend so far this its point is below you belt buckle as this serves no purpose but to make the wearer look like he cannot wear his clothes correctly.
When your tie is on straighten your back and breathe in to expand your chest. Then try to fit 2 fingers between the bottom of your tie and your belt buckle, this is the ideal length. 1-3 fingers is acceptable, but 2 fingers is the best.
It is completely acceptable to take the tie off and re-tie it multiple times to get this right... I usually don’t get it right first time either…
You should view your tie like you view your hairstyle.... just because you have run your comb through it once in the mirror does not mean it right.... you wont stop combing it until it looks right.... the same should hold true for your tie.
When removing a tie:
When removing a tie, DO NOT just yank it off. For the reasons I explained above. The tie should be removed by untying it in the reverse order that you used to tie it. Loosen the knot slightly, then bring the big flat up and through the knot, and precede to gently untie the knot.
After the tie is off, fold it in half slipping the thin end through the fabric clasp and then using 3 fingers, roll the tie gently around those three fingers so you end up with the tie rolled loosely into a spiral (wide end to the front). The tie should then be placed on a flat surface with the sides of the roll facing down and up. (Think of a toilet roll placed on its flat side.) This allows the tie to recover from being tied. you should leave the tie in this position until the next morning, then when you go to choose the tie for that day, remember to unroll the tie and hang it up [remember to hang as instructed above]
When a tie has become creased or wrinkled:
If you have even been on a business trip and arrived at your hotel with a tie that unfortunately has slipped it hanger, or been accidentally crushed into a fold or where pressure has been applied to it and the sides of the tie have started to curl, a trip to a dry cleaners is what it needs. Most hotels can perform this service for you overnight. If your hotel does not and your room has a trouser press then this is an OK second option.
Unlike myself I know many people who think tie's are like shoelaces.... Functional only and able to stand up to brutal treatment.... only used to cover the top button of a shirt.
Many people don’t even know how to use a Tie properly. If I had the power to re-write a law I would imprison all those who use "Slip-On" ties. [Never to be confused with Clip-On ties, as these serve a completely different function and in many lines of work are a necessity.]
Slip-On ties are ties where the man in question has tied the tie once, and then proceeds’ to loosen the knot and slip the tie over his head to put it on and take it off.
This practice will over time ingrain the knot into the structure of the fabric, meaning if you even fully untie the knot it will NEVER sit flat again... and upon tying the knot again you will always be able to see the lines of the previous tying.
The other most heinous crime with ties is not untying them properly when you take them off.
Most people I’ve met simply grab the tie by the knot and work it down and left and right until they can grab the thin end of the tie near the neck and then pull the tie apart and let the knot (if indeed it was tied properly) fall out, or untie the knot manually (if it was tied incorrectly)
This will stretch the tie out and make the back side of the tie look lopsided and generally it will destroy the life of the tie and after only a few short months it will look ugly on you, mainly because it will hand wrong. No matter what how to tie the knot, the two ends of the tie will not hang straight down, they will hang to one side.
This is caused by the stretching of the fabric on one side of the tie as you pull it off.
Eventually if this continues, you will have to push your tie knot so far to one side in order to get the body of the tie to remain straight that your tie will start to resemble the shape of a banana.
The proper way to treat a tie is as follows;
When hanging a tie:
Always double over the tie slipping the thin end into the small clasp of fabric on the back of the thick end to hold it in place, then. Double it over again and slip again into the fabric clasp on the back of the thick end.
[The fabric clasp is designed to keep the two ends of the tie together so when wearing it they don’t flap about separately] By hanging them this way the area of the tie that is supporting all the ties weight will be doubly enforced and thus won’t be as susceptible to stretching when hung for LONG periods of time.
When wearing a tie:
Many different styles of tying a tie exist and I am not going to preach here about which is best as it is usually either a personal choice, a choice based upon your shirt collar type or upon the quality and thickness of the ties material.
One thing that does hang true however is this, when the tie is tied it should NEVER descend so far this its point is below you belt buckle as this serves no purpose but to make the wearer look like he cannot wear his clothes correctly.
When your tie is on straighten your back and breathe in to expand your chest. Then try to fit 2 fingers between the bottom of your tie and your belt buckle, this is the ideal length. 1-3 fingers is acceptable, but 2 fingers is the best.
It is completely acceptable to take the tie off and re-tie it multiple times to get this right... I usually don’t get it right first time either…
You should view your tie like you view your hairstyle.... just because you have run your comb through it once in the mirror does not mean it right.... you wont stop combing it until it looks right.... the same should hold true for your tie.
When removing a tie:
When removing a tie, DO NOT just yank it off. For the reasons I explained above. The tie should be removed by untying it in the reverse order that you used to tie it. Loosen the knot slightly, then bring the big flat up and through the knot, and precede to gently untie the knot.
After the tie is off, fold it in half slipping the thin end through the fabric clasp and then using 3 fingers, roll the tie gently around those three fingers so you end up with the tie rolled loosely into a spiral (wide end to the front). The tie should then be placed on a flat surface with the sides of the roll facing down and up. (Think of a toilet roll placed on its flat side.) This allows the tie to recover from being tied. you should leave the tie in this position until the next morning, then when you go to choose the tie for that day, remember to unroll the tie and hang it up [remember to hang as instructed above]
When a tie has become creased or wrinkled:
If you have even been on a business trip and arrived at your hotel with a tie that unfortunately has slipped it hanger, or been accidentally crushed into a fold or where pressure has been applied to it and the sides of the tie have started to curl, a trip to a dry cleaners is what it needs. Most hotels can perform this service for you overnight. If your hotel does not and your room has a trouser press then this is an OK second option.
