Knitted Tie

Nothing about a knitted tie is cut from cloth. Yarn, silk or wool, runs through a knitting machine and comes out as a flat tube of even width, closed off square at the bottom instead of tapering to a point. The blade, meaning the wide front end you see, measures the same 2 to 2.5 inches as the tail hidden behind it.

A woven tie relies on two things that are simply absent here. There is no bias cut, the diagonal angle woven cloth must be cut at so a tie hangs straight, and usually no interlining, the fabric strip sewn inside that stops a knot collapsing. Knitting supplies both qualities by itself, because the loops stretch and recover, so the tie shrugs off a knot overnight without pressing. That elasticity carries a price, since every knot pulls a little length out of the tube. A knit worn weekly for years ends up longer and narrower than it began.

Skinny ties reach a similar width and are nothing like it underneath: woven silk, tapered to a point, pressed flat, sharp where this is soft. Woven wool and tweed ties share the casual look but finish in a point and build far more bulk through the knot, and they carry pattern in a way a knit cannot. Against a smooth silk necktie the difference is light itself, because a knit reflects almost none. That is exactly why it fails under a business suit and works over a chambray shirt.

Open collars, oxford cloth button down shirts, unstructured jackets and heavy knitwear all take one well. This is the tie to reach for when you want neckwear without the formality silk brings. If you stand over about six foot two, check the length before ordering, since knits are usually cut shorter than woven ties and long versions are rare. Funerals, black tie and conservative offices are the wrong rooms.

Hold a knit up to a window before buying. A loose open gauge lets daylight through and will sag out of shape within a season, while a dense one blocks most of it. Confirm the tube was knitted whole rather than knitted flat and seamed up the back, which leaves a ridge you can feel. Store it rolled in a drawer and never on a hanger, because its own weight is enough to stretch it. When a loop pulls, push the snag back through from the reverse with a blunt needle, since cutting it unravels an entire row.