How to Tie a Bow Tie

Alfie (Weebee minion) wears a batwing bow tie from Brooks Brothers

There is nothing more daunting than tying a bow tie for a black or white tie event.  Usually men spend hours trying to figure out how it works, watching youtube videos, looking at online guides, and still after hours of practice they still can't do it right. 

Weebee watched his owner struggle to learn this, and after many attempts, being called out on a bad bow tie (at balls no less), he finally learned the process to get an awesome bow-tie.  This guide is not intended to replace all the other great guides out there, but simply to add a view pointers that will allow you to make those ineffective videos more effective.

The first problem is simple- people don't try hard enough.  There is of course the option to use a simple pre-tied bow-tie, which means the second best option is not that bad.  Great if you're short on time and don't care how you look (anyone who knows something can spot a fake bow-tie from a mile away- simply too perfect and ruins an otherwise perfect outfit in Weebee's opinion), but not great if you really want to learn to tie a tie.  Many people try to figure it out as they go along, not realizing that if they had spent some more time learning how to do it upfront, they would save themselves a lot more time down the road.  Even if you only go to a black tie event 6 times in your life, is already pays to learn how to do it right.

According to Weebee's extensive* analysis, most people don't give themselves enough time to learn how to tie a tie.  Often they just give themselves a couple minutes to learn just before the event, panic, and then just take a pre-tied one.  Some give themselves a bit more time, but that's only about 10-15 min or so.  What people fail to realize is that the learning curve requires you to do it at least 50 times before you get pretty good.  Most people don't see much results after 10-15 times of failing to get a good bow tie, and then give up.  But if they stick with it, at around 50 times they will get a pretty decent shape, and after 70 they are pretty much there.  My owner has tied his bowtie over 100 times, and now can get it right in one go in less than 20 seconds.  Lot's of up front investment of time, but it pays off in the end.

Now we will go to Weebee's Tips for tying a bow-tie:

1. Type of Bowtie- Butterfly or Batwing
Some say the Batwing looks more formal, but I prefer the Butterfly as its slightly bigger, looks good for almost everyone, AND is easier to tie.  Yes that's right, its easier to tie according to the great Weebee, so go if that if you haven't chosen one yet.  If not, no worries, let's get to tip 2.

2. Practice on your something else other than your neck.  Many people try to tie it on their neck first, without understanding the concept of how it works.  Even with a mirror its still pretty hard to see, so its helpful to actually tie it to something else first.

What to use- something that can stay still and is about the size of your neck- around stuffed animal, little children (if you got kids that don't run around), or even your thigh if you can't find the above.

Your schedule may not be as busy, but still worth learning how to tie a proper bow tie

Here's what you do- wrap the bowtie around your thigh like you would a shoelace-put one part over the other in that initial loop.  Then- here's the cool part- close your eyes- yes close your ties, and finish it like you would tie a regular shoelace.  That's looping one area, and using the other to go around that part and through the hole created in the middle.  When you open your eyes, you should actually have a someone decent recognizable knot.  It's the same concept as tying your shoes, so once you get an idea of that you can try it on your own neck.

3. Don't wear a collared shirt yet.  Try tying a bowtie without a regular shirt.  don't make it too tight, but tight enough that it would fit should you be wearing a shirt underneath.  Once you get the hang of that, then "graduate" to tying it with the full shirt on.

That's it!  There's a million guides out there, so hopefully with these tips you should get a better idea of how to make those guides work.  Weebee likes the links below, but practically any one of the good ones will do.  Remember, when you feel like giving up- remember just a bit more effort will yield results!


http://www.folds.net/bowtie/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJv4Qh7zR3E

Weebee Knowledge:  Why do people wear bow ties? 
Besides from formal galas and other formal balls, wearing bow-ties actually started out in the services industry.  While men generally wore neck-ties, there were certain professions that required leaning over (a desk, table, a patient in a bed), and thus the neck-tie would always get in the way.  They still had to be professional, and hence the bow-tie.  You'll most commonly see on them on waiters in fancy restaurants, but it's not just for them- doctors, architects, and sometimes professors wear them too.