1. Style
About.com
DIY Fashion

Tie a Four-in-Hand Necktie

By , About.com Guide

1 of 7

How to Tie a Four-in-Hand
Four-in-hand necktie knot

How to tie a four-in-hand necktie. This is a mirror image.

Rain Blanken
The Four in Hand knot, also called the 'schoolboy knot' is probably the easiest way to tie a necktie. With just five steps in the knotting process, this is one that you can teach to younger gentlemen who opted out of the clip-on tie.

This knot produces a small, narrow tie head with a severe asymmetrical slant (for a small, symmetrical knot, see the Pratt knot). The four-in-hand is best suited for narrow collars, but can be stylishly worn with a wider collar to show some of the tie around the neck.

  1. Hang the tie around your neck. The wide end of the tie should be on your right side, the narrow end at your left. Extend the wide end a foot below the narrow end.
  2. Cross the wide end over the narrow end.
  3. Wrap the wide end behind the narrow end.
  4. Cross over the narrow end again. We are making a ‘bridge’, here, for the tie to cross under later. Tuck a couple of your fingers in here to keep it from flattening, so we can get the tie in here.
  5. Pull the wide end up through the loop at your neck. It is going to flop in your face, but I’m sure you’ll manage.
  6. Bend the wide end down and tuck it through the ‘bridge’ that we made before.
  7. Pull the tie taut by sliding the knot. Before you draw the knot up, pinch the top of the wide end to create a dimple on the front of the tie.
If you mess up on tightening the knot, just loosen the tie and give it another go. Tightening the knot on a tie just might be the most difficult part for beginners, but it gets easier with time.

Four-in-hand necktie examples:

©2013 About.com. All rights reserved.