Q: How do I make my tie knot as big as Diddy's or Jay-Z's?

A: Jay-Z seems to go for the full Windsor, which is the biggest conventional knot and the most symmetrical. James Bond was not a fan of the Windsor, calling it "the mark of a cad." I find that its precise symmetry more likely makes it the mark of a nerd. It’s a very buttoned-up look; however, I see it used effectively and acceptably with a spread collar. A few summers ago in Rome, I noticed a big trend for big knots. I finally figured it out when I saw a tie I liked in Bomba, a great store on Via dell'Oca off the Piazza del Popolo. This otherwise normally proportioned knit tie was a full eight inches longer than an Hermès tie.It turns out that all of those Roman peacocks with the prominent knots wrap around two or three times when finishing their conventional four-in-hand knots. The best knot guide I’ve found is on the Jo Krawatte Web site (www.krawattenknoten.info/krawatten
/Krawattenknoten/tieknot.html), where nineteen knots from the common to the arcane (e.g., the Persian, the Onassis) are diagrammed and shown with appropriate collars.

September 2006

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