Skip to content
Il Sartoriale The World of Fine Menswear
★
Il Sartoriale
Start here Bespoke tailors Shoemakers Shirtmakers Cloth makers & merchants Fabrics & materials
Craft How clothes are made Tailoring styles Craftsmen History
Clothing GarmentsAccessories BrandsPeople
Places CitiesCountries World map
Tools Find a tailor or shoemakerComparisons PricesGlossary LearnNews Ask the ArchiveAI agents ★ SavedFree API
About About usMethodology Editorial policy Sources Image licensing How we assess CorrectionsContact
Settings
Dark mode
Interface language

Guided view
New to this? Every page opens with a plain-language explanation before the detail begins, and technical terms are expanded where they appear.

Expert view
You already know the vocabulary. Straight to the substance, with the introductory explanations hidden. This is the default.

★ Your saved pages
470 entries across tailoring, shoemaking, cloth and craft Reference publication: we sell nothing and rank nobody for payment Every figure carries its source and the date it was checked

Accessory · Neckwear

The necktie

A good tie is cut diagonally across the silk and folded around a wool lining, which helps it knot cleanly and hang straight without twisting.

A tie is cut on the bias (diagonally across the cloth), folded around a wool interlining and closed with a single slip stitch running its length. That construction is what lets it knot cleanly, spring back, and hang straight. A tie cut on the straight grain will twist, and no amount of silk quality fixes it.

A grenadine silk tie, rolled and unrolled
A grenadine silk tie, rolled and unrolled

Why the bias

Cloth cut diagonally across the weave stretches and recovers in a way cloth cut straight does not. A bias-cut tie can be pulled into a knot, released, and return to shape; it also hangs straight rather than twisting to one side. This is the single most important thing about a tie's construction, and it is checkable: look at the pattern on the blade against the seam running up the back. On a bias-cut tie the stripes run at roughly 45 degrees to the length.

The interlining and the slip stitch

Inside a good tie is a wool interlining giving it body, and the whole thing is closed with a single loose thread (the slip stitch) running the length of the back. Pull the tie gently lengthways and you should feel it give and return; that is the slip stitch doing its job.

Cheap ties are fused or heavily stitched, cannot move, and eventually deform permanently. A tie described as three-fold, six-fold or seven-fold refers to how many times the silk is folded on itself; more folds mean less or no interlining and a heavier, softer tie. Seven-fold is not automatically better; it is a different construction with a different feel.

Cloth

Grenadine is an openwork leno-woven silk, made by a small number of weavers around Como, and the classic choice for a tie that is interesting without being patterned. Repp is a ribbed weave, the basis of striped club and regimental ties. Shantung has irregular slubs. Wool, cashmere and linen ties are less formal and knot with more texture.

Length and width should follow the wearer and the lapel. The tip should reach the waistband; the width should roughly match the lapel width. Both rules survive fashion cycles better than any specific measurement.

At a glance

Cut
On the bias, at roughly 45° to the weave
Construction
Wool interlining, closed with a single slip stitch
Fold count
Three-, six- or seven-fold: a construction, not a quality grade
Notable cloth
Grenadine, woven around Como
Length
Tip to the waistband

Makers associated with it

  1. Charvet's shop at 28 Place Vendôme, Paris Charvet Shirtmaker · Paris · 1838

    The first shop in the world to make shirts to measure for whoever walked in, and still the reference.
  2. Turnbull & Asser's shop in St James's, London Turnbull & Asser Shirtmaker · London · 1885

    Jermyn Street's best-known name, with a bespoke workroom behind the shop and a distinctive collar.
  3. Drake's Brand · London · 1977

    Drake's is a London tie maker turned full menswear brand, known for relaxed, softly made clothes in English cloth with little shoulder padding.
Last reviewed: September 2026 Report an error on this page

Related

Glossary termGrenadine HistoryHow the necktie happened CraftsmanJesse Langsdorf FabricSilk Glossary termRepp AccessoryThe bow tie ShirtmakerCharvet Glossary termTab collar AccessoryThe pocket square GarmentThe dress shirt Glossary termLapel width BrandDrake's
Picture credits 3
  1. A grenadine silk tie, rolled and unrolled: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  2. Charvet store: Photograph · Racconish · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
  3. Turnbull & Asser, St James's, October 2021: Photograph · No Swan So Fine · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Image policy