I’ll be honest. I’ve never really had to wear a tie to too many occasions. I’ve been to a few weddings, some events in NY and an interview here and there, and the thing that I was most self-conscious about were not my underarms, my hair or my skin. It was my tie!
“There’s one thing to look good, but another thing to look plain awkward,” said my recruiter.
I take that to heart, because she’s right. Just because you have a suit on doesn’t really mean you’re wearing it the right way. The one thing that stands out is your tie, especially. I freaked out before an interview because I didn’t really know how to tie a tie. I knew the basic mechanics, but that wasn’t enough.
Have you seen the trainers at Dog Shows? They wear biggest full-windsor knots I have ever seen. It looks like they can fit an entire phone, or maybe some snacks inside those things.
Here’s a nifty graphic I found that I keep solely upon my desktop incase I ever forget:
If all else fails, there are sites like Tie-a-Tie.net, made for the necktie incompetent, such as myself.
Anyway, it’s such a small thing that can make a huge impression without you knowing it. All I am saying is take the 10-minutes or so to learn to tie a necktie properly, if you don’t already know.
August 25, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Funny – I have a whole PowerPoint that I did for an instructional design class on how to tie a half-windsor knot