How to Tie a Bow Tie like tying a shoe

To skip the intro .

Click the link that jumps ahead or go watch the no intro video .

If you know how to tie your shoe , you already know how to tie a bow tie unless you use the bunny ears method .

And then I feel sorry for you .

The real question is whether you know the standard shoe knot or are you like me ?

And you add some weird extra hook around thing and then you have to go watch a bunch of shoe tying videos to learn how to do it right ?

And then you have to go remake those videos because you think none of them are any good .

No .

Anyway , in case you're doing it wrong , go watch my shoe videos because a bow tie is just like the standard shoe knot , you simply begin with a starter knot followed by a loop wrap the other end around , pull it through and tighten .

And then if you think it's important , you can shape it a bit when finished the bow tie has an end and a bow and behind that is another end and another bow , you end up stacking them .

So all you see is the first end and half of the first bow .

The tough part for a bow tie is tying it so your bows and ends match and nothing gets twisted .

Helpful .

Side note that no one tells you the kind of bow tie I have here lets you choose the length by putting the t in the appropriate spot .

After setting that up , you are ready to start .

So let's begin , place the tie around your neck now because the bow tie doesn't slip easily into other logistics here .

You need to pull one end down a bunch , giving us a long end and a short end , the short end will eventually become the front of the bow tie .

Step , one tie the starter knot .

You do that by crossing the long end over the short end and then flipping it under .

When you pull it through , keep it on this side .

I don't like saying left or right side because it depends how you're watching this .

Also check out the mirrored version of this video if that suits you better .

Just know that the important parts of what happens next happen on this side .

Now , pull both ends tight .

This is where you tighten the tie around your neck .

So make sure that it's tight but comfortable just like your shoe .

You may need to hold the starter knot tight with a finger , but hopefully not since that makes the rest of this process .

Very difficult note , the long end should still be long and you can put the long end up on this shoulder for now , step two , make a bow , take the short end and make a bow by folding it in half .

Some people call this the fish .

Uh So here's the head and the body and the tail and here's the tongue .

So in those terms , chop the head off the fish or at least fold the head behind , this makes the first bow and you want to bring the bow over to this side .

Step three , wrap the other end around , bring the long end back in front , pull it down flat and make sure it didn't twist .

If your bow tie is excessively wide , you can fold the tongue in half here .

Now , all you have to do is get the loop through the hole by wrapping the long end around .

You have made a hole and you want to push the head of the long end through it .

You may be wondering which side of the hole you want to use .

Just remember to use this side with the long end hanging in front , push your finger onto the head and slide it and the tie up on this side all the way through the hole .

If you need more space , see if you can pull the top and bottom parts of the hole close to your neck apart .

Contrary to what other videos tell you here is your last chance to tighten the tie around your neck with your other hand , grab and pull it through , but be careful not to pull the end through .

You may need to pull the tail back a bit .

And that is easier if you can grab the fish heads , pulling on the fish heads will tighten the knot and you're done .

Well , you've done the tying part now , you have to get it to look right .

Just like your shoe .

You can still tighten the knot more if you need to , as well as pull the ends or the bows to make them longer or shorter .

In order to get them to match .

This is what really makes a bow tie look .

Right .

It's a whole other step where you shape the tie as much as necessary .

Additionally , for a bow tie , you have to play with the ends and the bows to get them flat and untwisted , take a bow and an end in one hand and take a bow and an end in the other hand and twist the whole tie up and down , then pull both parts tight .

Keep playing with the tails and the bodies until it looks right .

You may also need to work with the middle a bit when you're satisfied .

Smile .

Don't spend too long .