March 10, 2007
In the Windsor Circle:
Big Knots Return
By RAY A. SMITH
March 10, 2007; Page P1
Spurred by the popularity of spread-collar shirts and thicker "seven-fold" neckties, the reappearance of big knots has some men weighing the look -- and others fumbling in front of the mirror to master the tricky Windsor knot.
[PHOTOS & CAPTION: Knots Landing: U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone and Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn.]
But thicker knots raise some issues. For one, there's the problem of relearning something most men haven't had to think about for decades: how to tie a tie. There's also the question of whether a look most often seen on Italian businessmen, Hollywood stars and the occasional British royal will pass muster in the American workplace.
Mark Sunshine, president of a financial-services company and commercial lender based in West Palm Beach, Fla., says the big-knot look isn't for him, though he likes the way it looks on others. "In light of what I do for a living, I would feel funny, like I was taking a risk," he says. Mr. Sunshine, who favors point-collar shirts, says a big knot might be seen as over-the-top at his company.
The most common American necktie knot -- and the one most men learned from their fathers -- is the four-in-hand, which involves passing the tie through a loop twice.
But getting a bigger knot typically means learning a new tying style -- most often, the Windsor knot, also known as a full Windsor or double Windsor, which requires three passes through the loop. (The half-Windsor, which is tied with a double loop, isn't as effective at producing a big knot.) First-timers at this are likely to see messy results on their first few tries.
"It's a lot of trial and error," says Michael Markiewicz, director of business management services at accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP. Mr. Markiewicz says he decided to try a big knot after a trip to Italy, where he saw the look everywhere. He struggled at first with getting the length right but says he's since improved his technique -- though it still takes him longer to tie a bigger knot.
Some retailers are addressing this issue by offering instructions. Brooks Brothers recently posted a step-by-step guide to tying classic knots on its Web site -- a response to customer requests, the company says. The new men's catalog from Saks Fifth Avenue includes detailed tying instructions as well. "It's our responsibility to help," says men's fashion director Michael Macko. "You can't just say, 'Here's a tie, good luck with it.'"
The Windsor knot first caught on in the U.S. in the 1930s after a visit by the Duke of Windsor. The duke himself, it turns out, produced his big knots by wearing ties specially made by Britain's Turnbull & Asser that were so thick that he didn't actually need to tie a Windsor. The triple-loop knot nevertheless became known as a Windsor.
Though the spread collar and thick tie knot is common on European executives, it's less familiar in the U.S. The look does have some longtime champions in American business and government, though, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone.
The knot has also been showing up lately on the red carpet. Tom Cruise and Will Smith's son, Jaden, wore them to the Oscars, and Forest Whitaker wore one to the Golden Globes. Hip-hop moguls such as Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Sean "Diddy" Combs have been sporting big knots for several years.
In the U.S., the groundwork for this trend was laid three years ago, when more men started ditching their ties altogether and buying shirts with short, wide collars known as spread collars. Long the collar of choice in Britain and Italy, this style looks better unbuttoned than a collar that points down. Men who still wore ties soon started snapping up these shirts too.
As spread collars gained momentum -- they're now the fastest-growing collar style in dress shirts, according to Phillips-Van Heusen, the world's largest shirt maker -- tie makers saw an opportunity to push heftier ties with heftier price tags. Since these ties make bigger knots no matter how they're tied, they do a better job of filling the wider gap of a spread collar. Sales of ties costing $100 or more, which tend to be heavier and produce thicker knots, rose 41% in the 12 months ended Jan. 31, compared with flat sales for ties costing less, according to market researcher NPD Group.
Brooks Brothers is now expanding its collection of seven-fold ties and, along with Phillips-Van Heusen's neckwear division, is widening and thickening other ties in its collection. Late last year, Robert Talbott thickened its seven-fold ties by increasing the number of times the yarn is twisted. Even J.C. Penney thickened the lining in its Stafford Executive ties to make them beefier.
The "skinny ties" that came into vogue in menswear a few years ago -- which won't produce a very prominent knot even when tied in the bulkier Windsor style -- have been giving way to wider ones.
Some tie makers are also lengthening their neckwear by as much as an inch. British clothier Charles Tyrwhitt, for instance, introduced a line of longer full-bodied woven ties for spring. Big-and-tall clothing line Jared M. lengthened its already long ties for its new line for Casual Male stores. The reason: A big knot uses more fabric than a small one, and can result in a tie that's too short.
Stylists say that the thicker knots work better for some body types than others. "If you have a small frame or if you are on the short side, a big knot will overpower you," says stylist Clinton Kelly, co-host of TLC's "What Not to Wear." Big men with large heads also should avoid supersizing their knots so they don't look even wider, says Glenn Laiken, an image consultant and designer in Culver City, Calif., whose clients include Dr. Phil and pro-basketball coach Phil Jackson. Image consultant Carolyn Gustafson, who has offices in New York and North Carolina, says big knots and spread-collar shirts work best with wide jacket lapels for a sense of proportion.
Some shirt makers have continued to adjust their designs to accommodate big knots, raising the collar band to sit higher on the neck. Phillips-Van Heusen's line of Sean John dress shirts feature collars as much as a quarter inch higher than those on standard dress shirts.
Windsor fans say their knots are more prominent and less likely to slip throughout the day than other styles. "It shows off the tie a little more," says Mr. Kelly, the New York police commissioner, whose father taught him how to tie a Windsor. ESPN sports analyst and former NBA all-star Allan Houston says the Windsor knot shows that the wearer is making an effort: It says "you're taking it to a different level," he says.
Still, tying a big knot can be unnerving. Mr. Whitaker, the actor, says he's struggled to get it right. "If I keep going at it for awhile, I can do it," he says. For the Golden Globes, he wore a nine-fold tie by Italian designer Domenico Vacca, who personally tied a Windsor knot for the actor.