By Anna White février 22, 2016

How to tie your tartan tie - The Windsor Knot

Our How to Tie your Tartan Tie blog post series aims to give you useful hints and tips to show your tartan tie off to it's full potential! This week we discuss The Windsor Knot. Inspired by the Duke of Windsor in the 1930's this popular tie knot is now described as a tie knot that projects confidence.

The Windsor Knot

The Windsor Knot became popular in the 1930's when the Duke of Windsor's fashion sense was quickly adopted after his visits to the United States. It's reported that the Duke never specifically used the Windsor knot but that instead this was invented by the public to imitate the his style. The Duke's trick was to use a heavy weight cloth and and a specially made extra wide tie which was then tied with the Four-in-hand knot.

We recommend using an extra long tartan tie for the Windsor as this larger knot can make a standard length tie rather short. The right combination of shirt collar and tie knot can add the perfect finishing touches to your outfit and this style is best suited to a spread shirt collar.

Duke of windsor tie The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done

How to tie your Windsor knot

1. Start with the wide end of your tie on the right and the narrow end on the left. Position the wide end to be approximately 12 inches below the narrow end. Cross the wide end of your tie over the narrow end.


Tartan Windsor Knot1 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done


2. Bring the wide end through the back of the loop formed and bring this up between your collar and your tie (towards your face). Bring the wide end back down to the left.

Tartan Windsor Knot2 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done


3. Pull the wide end of your tie underneath the narrow end and to the right hand side.

Tartan Half Windsor Knot3 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done


4. Then loop the wide end of your tie back up between your collar and your tie and pull this to the right hand side. The wide end of your tie will now be inside out.

Tartan Half Windsor Knot4 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done


5. Bring the wide end of your tie across the front of the narrow end to the left hand side.

Tartan Half Windsor Knot5 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done

6. For a third time loop the wide end of your tie between your collar and your tie, this time bring the wide end of the tie down through the loop you have just created.

Using both hands carefully tighten the knot, drawing the knot up towards your collar making any small adjustments.

Tartan Windsor Knot6 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done
Patriot Modern Extra Long Tie 1 The Duke of Windsor shows us how its done

A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life. ― Oscar Wilde.

Always in touch with dapper style, Grey Fox blogger David shows off his Windsor knot in the Patriot Modern tartan. A great demonstration of mix and matching your patterns we love the stripe and check combination. Keep an eye for the blog for the next tie knot guide in the series or share your knowledge or favourite knot with us.

For more Tie Knot Inspiration try our other blogs: