Growing up, I was taught to tie my neckties in a Half-Windsor knot. That's the only knot I ever tied for several decades, and to be honest I didn't even know there were other types of knots. To me, it was just how you were supposed to tie a tie.

I've never tied a Four-in-Hand knot. And recently, I've actually switched over to using a full Windsor knot (rather than my default Half-Windsor). The reason I've done this is because I'm a short guy, and most neckties are too long for me. So even when I tie it so that the tail is even with the front when adjusted, it still hangs below the top of my belt when wearing trousers. So since the Windsor uses more material in the knot than the Half-Windsor, it works a little better for me on length.

However, I'm led to believe that the Windsor is a more formal knot. But does it really matter? If I'm wearing a Windsor knot with my office attire (usually dress slacks, a spread-collar shirt and tie, and sometimes a tweed sport jacket), am I technically "off" with my choice of knot?

And furthermore, how does it translate to kilt-wearing? Would a Windsor knot be horridly inappropriate with a tattersal shirt and tweed jacket as daywear? Of course, the length of my tie is even more at issue when wearing a kilt, so I usually have to resort to tying the front to the correct length and then just stuffing the tail into my kilt. And I'm always self-conscious about it, though it's not noticeable if I'm wearing a waistcoat.

So please tell me what the 'proper' knot would be for varying levels of formality, and whether this is a hard-and-fast rule.