How to Tie a Bow Tie

Edited by Typeswithkeyboard, Andy Zhang, Jack Herrick, Nicole Willson and 47 others

Whether you’re wearing a tuxedo at a wedding or singing in a barbershop quartet, you’ve got to know how to tie a bow tie. It’s not something most of us do very often, but luckily, if you can tie your shoes, you can tie a bow tie—it’s the same knot. To tie a bow tie, follow these instructions.

Edit Steps

1. 
   1
   Drape the bow tie around your neck, under your collar, and grasp the ends. The end on your right should extend about 1.5 inches lower than the end on your left side.
2. 
   2
   Cross the longer end over the shorter end. You should cross the tie near your neck so that the loop around your neck is just large enough to work with but not loose; you don’t want your bow dangling in front of your chest.
3. 
   3
   Pass the longer end up through the loop, forming a simple, loose overhand knot. Use this opportunity to tighten the knot if necessary.
4. 
   4
   Pull the dangling end to the left and then fold it back over itself to the right. Hold this fold, which will be the front loop of the completed tie, between your shirt’s collar points.
5. 
   5
   Drop the raised end of the tie over the front of the bow.
6. 
   6
   Grab the left and right sides of the horizontally-folded end and pinch them together in front of the dangling end. The top of the dangling end will now be held between them.
7. 
   7
   Feed the middle of the dangling end back through the knot you made in Step 3. It will now form the back half of the bow.
8. 
   8
   Tighten the bow by pulling on opposite sides and halves simultaneously. Pull the front right and back left ends apart to loosen; pull the front left and back right apart to tighten. Repeat until the bow is the desired shape and tightness.