The Pratt knot is a method of tying a

necktie A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat, and often draped down the chest. Variants include the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cra ...

. It is also known as the Shelby knot and the Pratt-Shelby. The knot was created by Jerry Pratt, an employee of the

US Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...

in the late 1950s. It was popularized as the Shelby knot after then 92-year-old Pratt taught it in 1986 to television reporter

Don Shelby Donald Gilbert Shelby (born May 27, 1947) is a retired American journalist who was a news anchor on WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota for much of his career. He is regarded as an experienced investigative journalist, as his work has earned two Pea ...

who he felt had been tying his tie poorly on the air. Shelby then refined the Pratt knot with local clothier Kingford Bavender and wore it on the air with a

spread collar Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * '' $pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/ ...

where it stood out and attracted attention for its symmetry and trim precision. The knot was considered revelatory although strictly speaking it is a variation on the Nicky knot, notable for being tied inside out. As of its popularization in a 1989 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' article as well as subsequent UK profile the knot was unknown within the fashion world and not recorded in the tie industry's standard reference guide of the time; ''Getting Knotted – 188 Knots for Necks'', by

Davide Mosconi Davide is an Italian given name (common) and an Italian/Filipino surname (relatively rare), and may refer to: Given name * Davide Alviti (born 1996), Italian basketball player * Davide Ancilotto (1974–1997), Italian basketball player * Davide A ...

and

Riccardo Villarosa Riccardo is a male given name, Italian version of Ricardo or Richard. It also may be a surname. It means "Powerful Leader". It may refer to: People A–L *Riccardo Antoniazzi (1853–1912), Italian violin maker *Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985), ...

in Milan, Italy. The Pratt knot is unusual in that its starting position is 'reverse side out', like the Nicky knot, a self-releasing variant of the Pratt. It uses less length than the half-Windsor or

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

knots, and so is well suited to shorter ties or taller men. Unlike the

four-in-hand knot The four-in-hand knot is a method of tying a necktie. It is also known as a simple knot or schoolboy knot, due to its simplicity and style. Some reports state that carriage drivers tied their reins with a four-in-hand knot, while others claim th ...

, the Pratt method produces a symmetrical knot. It is of medium thickness. Using notation from and according to ''

The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie ''The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie'' is a book by Thomas Fink and Yong Mao about the history of the knotted neckcloth, the modern necktie, and how to tie each. It is based on two mathematics papers published by the authors in ''Nature'' and '' Physica&n ...

'', the knot is tied * Lo Ci Lo Ri Co T (knot 5) File:Tie diagram inside-out start.svg File:Tie diagram inside-out l-c-l i-o.svg File:Tie diagram inside-out l-r.svg File:Tie diagram inside-out r-c-end.svg The Nicky is tied * Lo Ci Ro Li Co T (knot 4) File:Tie diagram inside-out start.svg File:Tie diagram inside-out l-c-r i-o.svg File:Tie diagram inside-out r-l.svg File:Tie diagram inside-out l-c-end.svg

References

External links

Encyclopedia of tie knots at Thomas Fink's homepage
*

* {{Necktie knots Necktie knots

See also

References

External links