FAQs About The Windsor Knot

Why do they call it a Windsor Knot?

The Windsor Knot is named, aptly, after the Duke of Windsor – better known as King Edward VIII before he ran off with an American – who was thought to have favored a wide knot. You can’t really get the same level of chunkiness from a four-in-hand so people started using the more difficult Windsor to ape the Duke’s style (although the Duke himself just used a thicker tie cloth).

Which tie knot is most professional?

It is generally accepted in the menswear community that the Full Windsor, or Windsor Knot, or whatever you want to call it, is most professional tie knot. However, as the business world becomes increasingly casual, it’s likely that any knot will do in most dress codes.

More important, perhaps, than which tie knot you choose is how tight you tie it. According to Pickles, the knot can look comical if its large dimensions are played up too much. “If it is tight and not too wide, it shows that you mean business. But if it gets loose, too big, and you are wearing business attire, it can look like you are stuck in the 1970s.”

Is the Windsor Knot hard to learn?

Of course, the answer to this depends on your familiarity with knot-tying in the first place. Holger Auffenberg, head of design at Savile Row tailors Chester Barrie, thinks the Windsor knot can take quite some time to get used to.

“It uses a lot of the tie length,” says Auffenberg, “so it needs practice, practice, practice to start in the right position, especially for tall men, since the tie should still end up with the point touching your waistband.”