Most men would never consider a pre-tied necktie, or pre-folded pocket square - and yet pre-tied bow ties are somehow more common than self-tied ones. 

A self-tie bow tie, with all its imperfections and asymmetry as opposed to the rigid, uncomfortable perfection of a pre-tied one, feels real and alive. And unlike a pre-tied one, one huge benefit is that the size of the bow can be adjusted to fit the proportions of your face. 

The main downside is that most men don’t get enough practice - so here’s our step by step guide to tying a self-tie bow tie. If you can tie a shoelace, you can certainly tie a bow tie! A video version can be found on our Instagram post.


1. Tie a basic knot, with both ends of equal length. Left over right or the other way round, do it whichever comes naturally to you - it doesn't matter. Knot it as tightly as you're comfortable with, as there won't be an opportunity to tighten it later.

 

2. You'll notice that one side of the knot naturally goes up - my right side in these pictures. Let's call this side A, which you can keep up on your shoulder for now.

3. Fold the other side (side B) into two, effective forming it into the front half of the bow. The folded edge (the other side is a single edge) should point towards the side that is resting on your shoulder.

4. Pull side A down along the middle of the bow. This shouldn't be pulled down too tightly, or you'll have trouble with the next step.

5. Pinch both ends of the bow forward, and you'll notice a loophole when viewed from the side. It helps to turn sideways to the mirror to see this.

6. With your index finger, find the middle point along side A and poke it through the hole. This should go in from the same side it came down from (right side for me). Don't poke it all the way through!

7. At this stage the bow looks like a bit of a mess. Adjust the bow by tugging on the folded edges so that they're roughly equal length in the front and back. If you find one side consistently longer than the other, you can compensate by tying that side shorter in step 1. Et voila!

8, To untie, pull outwards on the straight edges.

 

How should a bow tie fit?

Ideally, you want the edges of the bow to line up with the outer edges of your eyes. A bow tie that is too wide makes your head look tiny, and the reverse is true as well.

Some suggest the bow should line up with your jaws, but I find our method to be more universal, as not everyone is blessed with a model-like, defined jawline. Eye widths generally don't vary as drastically as jaw size.

In order to adjust the size of the tied bow tie, you’ll need to remove the bow tie and slide the adjusters either longer or shorter, trying it on and repeating a couple of times to ensure the right fit.

Our self-tie bow ties do not come with size markings, as we find those grossly inaccurate since they are a simple estimation and fail to take into account the shape of your face.

Bow ties are perfectly fine if they aren't perfect - a little sprezzatura is, in fact, encouraged. Why go through a mind boggling tutorial if it's going to look like a perfectly pre-tied one?

To end, I leave you with some dudes in bow ties.