'Wears' your tie?

[Clockwork John]

Being a slender guy (6foot and 165 pounds) and having a short-ish torso for my height (I wear a 38R jacket, which should fit a guy 2-4 inches shorter than me, on average), I have a hard time with tie length. Most ties are just plain too long for me. I aim for the top of the kilt/top of the buckle area, but this doesn't always work out. If I'm wearing a waistcoat I'll just tuck the tie in some place and be done with it. If I'm not wearing a waistcoat, I'll adjust the tie so that the wide part that everyone can see is the right length, and then tuck the "tail" into my shirt, much the way Jack Daw does with his tie when piping. Or sometimes I'll just follow his example outright and tuck the whole darn thing into my shirt.

Wow, that was a rather lenghty post that really boils down to, "I do the best I can with what I have."

[LANCER1562]

With a waistcoat, I tuck the point into the waist band of my kilt. Without, I just let it hang to the top of my belt buckle.

[SteveB]

The Tie,

It points to the top of my buckle, when I am wearing a belt with the kilt. I wear my kilt rather high, so the tie can make it down that far easily. I have a very long torso and almost no legs at 6'1"+. I have recently become quite fat (195 Lbs). I have gone to Mens Wearhouse for the extra long ties to wear when I have to wear trousers. Otherwise the tie with no undertail will stop 4" above the trousers, and touching the top of my kilt.I had the same problem only looking a lot worse when I was at a more normal 140 Lbs. When wearing a waistcoat, I tie a standard length tie with the undertail almost to the length of the outer, as this looks neat and is not visible below the waistcoat.
The Bowtie, black is worn without my fingers still in the knot for the most part high on the collar. Blue is worn in a less visible mode under the kilt.

Ted - tea and keyboards do not get along very well.

Slainte

[Bugbear]

I switch knots when I can't get the tie length to fit the kilt. For example, I will use a four-in-hand knot if the tie is short, and a Windsor if it is too long to deal with by moving the knot. I prefer the Windsor and half-Windsor knots, but they don't always work too well with thick ties.

Bow ties are a different cup of tea.

[Panache]

For those wondering how to make one's tie the perfect length when wearing a kilt I will offer my method. if you look at the pictures below:













Notice the bar type tie clip I am wearing

I simply tie my tie in a nice full Windsor knot so that the front part looks nice and the right length. With a kilt the back part will always be longer than the front, so then I fold back part of the tie up behind the front part and clip it in place with the tie clip!

Very easy and it looks smart.

Cheers

Jamie

[McMurdo]

What I do is to go buy a tie at the tartan shop, these ties are made to fit with a kilt, if you notice there are seams on these ties, if you start the knot at the seam then it will be the correct length or very very close.


Here are a few photos with ties that show what I'm talking about, also please note that the ties I'm wearing are wool ties, not silk. I reserve the silk ties for a suit, I normally would not wear them with a kilt as I like the way a wool tie brings everything together with a kilt outfit.

[Carolina Kiltman]

For nearly 50 years I wore a tie nearly on a daily basis (had to). I generally prefer a half-windsor to a full windsor, but that depends on the weight of the tie. The 4-in-hand was more popular in the late 40's but pretty well disappeared by the 60's. The point should be just above the belt if a waistcoat is not being worn. If it is, then short enough to NOT show under the waistcoat. As my clothes were all custom made (had to be, until I got some weight on at about age 50) the waistcoats were long enough to cover waist band on the trousers (I nearly always wore braces).

In my case, the extra-length ties are too long, the regular a little too short. I generally prefer the tie to be shorter than longer. (I can adjust the small end to get the length about right.)

Basically, IMHO the tie should never be over the belt buckle.

[Panache]

What I do is to go buy a tie at the tartan shop, these ties are made to fit with a kilt, if you notice there are seams on these ties, if you start the knot at the seam then it will be the correct length or very very close.

Glen,

I have pondered if such ties were out there, or failing this, that perhaps I should shorten my ties for ease in wearing with kilted attire.

I do have to say that my tie clip trick boasts one advantage to ties made for wearing with kilts.

It allows for any tie to be worn with a kilt, and any tie to perform "double duty" with kilts or slacks.

I think I win the point! (but not the match!)

Cheers

Jamie

[Thunderbolt]

As I mentioned when I started this thread, I know what the right answer is, but I may not like it!

I'm somewhat verticaly challenged, and have a few extra pounds. If I wear the tie correctly to the top of the buckle (or kilt..semantics), I fear that I look rather like Oliver Hardy!

I typically avoid ties when I can, but they have their place in proper dress and, therefore unavoidable at times.

Oh well....I guess I shouldn't be worries about the tie, most never notice it over the kilt anyway...


T.

[McMurdo]

Jamie
I would have to say it is all up to personal choice. Personally, and this is just me, I prefer to wear a wool tie with my kilt outfits, not a silk tie. I would have to warn against "shortening" a tie for kilt wear, I would just tie my regular, i.e. non kilt tie so that the back part was longer and just tuck that into the kilt, thus no tie clip needed, unless of course I want to. Point to me.