Multi-fold Neckties: a photographic survey of what's real and what's not

The multi-fold tie is an increasingly common item in the male wardrobe for which there is pervasive, confusing, and almost universal misuse of descriptive terms that could be illuminating about how the tie is made. I have no theory about how this happened. Error is rife. Even though I attempt to be careful when discussing how ties are made, I often use the wrong terms myself.

The most notorious example of this is the Seaward & Stearn "VII Fold," which is constructed in the most common three-fold (a.k.a, four-fold...and we're off to a confusing start) fashion.



The term "multifold" itself is nearly a useless affectation. All ties are folded. (I'll use the term nonetheless as a placekeeper for ties other than the normal three fold that all men know.)

But where we have the most confusion is in the term "seven-fold." It should be simple, should it not? Isn't a seven-fold tie a tie with...seven folds? And yet, only rarely is this true..and far more rarely than people assume

So, I present a photographic survey of no particular merit selected from my own collection of ties that I hope, despite its faults, to show a countdown of folded ties other than the basic three-fold.

Keep three things in mind:

1. We are going to talk about folding. Natch.

2. We are also going to talk about tipping and edges.

3. And we are going to talk about interlinings, or linings for short.

I welcome commentary and corrections, particularly from the small necktie makers or resellers who post in this forum.

Let's start with a very rare type of tie, a lined seven-fold, in this case, Attolini:



Notice that it is self tipped...a piece of the same silk is used to finish the back of the point. A tipped tie will have the point machine-stitched, and then flipped inside out. The lining, a very light one in this case, is between the tipping and the rest of the silk. The tie is supple, and not at all thick like, say, a T&A three-fold. Let's count the folds:



There are seven folds. Four on the left. Three on the right. This pattern is typical of a seven-fold.

Note that the fact that it is a seven fold has NOTHING to do with it being made from "all silk," or whether it is lined or unlined. This is a lined seven of excellent craftsmanship and materials. It is folded over seven times. It is a seven-fold, but it is lined. You can feel the lining between the tipping and the main body of the tie.

Let's go on to a tie to which most writers are referring when they write of the "original" tie made entirely from silk and folded over seven times, in this case, another Attolini:





This tie has no tipping. It has handkerchief edges at the tip..folded over and handsewn. You can see the dimples in the front, and the obvious handsewn edges on the back. Let's count the folds:



There are seven folds. Four on the left. Three on the right. If you think about it, it's obvious that a seven-fold will be bilaterally asymmetrical...more folds on one side than the other. This tie also has no lining whatsoever: all silk.

This second Attolini is the type of tie that modern sartorial editorial convention presumes is the ur-necktie: the original, the pure. But who knows what's true? To answer this, one would have to have an origin point for the necktie, and that is like asking for the origin of the species.

Let's move on to the two of the most well known unlined "seven-folds." But, they are actually not sevens, but sixes.

Arnys Atelier unlined multi-fold:





This tie has no tipping. It has handkerchief edges at the tip..folded over and handsewn. Wonderful. Arnys had this twill silk made up especially for these unlined ties. You can see the dimples in the front, and the obvious handsewn edges on the back. Let's count the folds:



There are six folds. Three on the left. Three on the right. If you think about it, it's obvious that a six-fold will be bilaterally symmetrical. But, this beautifully made, unlined, handsewn and edged, pure silk tie is not a seven-fold.

Here is another tie that many would assume is a seven, but is a six (thanks to mafoofan for the tip!). The Rubinacci unlined, untipped multi-fold:







Wonderfully handsewn, gorgeous handsewn edges. Unlined, untipped, extraordinarily delicate, all silk...but not a seven.

And now, let's proceed to the type of tie that must account for 99% + of all ties now called seven-folds, the lined, tipped, six-fold. But let's start with a guy who knows his ties, David Hober. David will make any type of bespoke tie for you, including sevens, but he prefers not to make you a bespoke unlined seven grenadine. So here is a lined, tipped six-fold...at this point, you are good at counting folds, are you not?





My bespoke Hobers are made up on the narrow side, so the folds are wonderfully interlocking...don't let that confuse your count.

As with this particular Hober, so too with multi-fold Marinellas and Kiton.

Bespoke Marinella:





Your run of the mill Kiton:





Let's conclude with a very (very) tricky tie, a fastidiously sewn Kiton, of higher make than the usual Kiton:





Hmmm...no tipping. Handsewn handkerchief edges. Wonderful. Let's count the folds.



Ah, six. Not a seven. Well, the same could be said of the Rubinacci. But...with Kiton, it is often the case that all is not what it seems. Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck. But is it a goose? Let's look more closely, shall we?



There it is...the lining, hidden way up the tie. If you think that you own a miraculous subset of Kiton ties that seem to be unlined sevens, you might...nevertheless, perhaps you actually have a lined six, as is typical with Kiton...but without tipping.

So, there it is.

What import is all this? No more or less than the other things that we discuss here related to how things are made.

An unlined, untipped seven or six-fold, however, is a thing of marvelous craftsmanship. More of the tie tends to be stitched by hand. It responds to the fabric from which it is made with a consistency and suppleness that even the best lined ties of whatever number of folds have a hard time matching.

But the odds that any of you are running into unlined, untipped seven-folds is near nil. You are nearly certainly wearing a lined, tipped six-fold, the bread and butter contemporary high end Italian tie. In feel, my opinion is that a lined six-fold it is closer to a normal three-fold tie than it is to a true unlined seven or six.

Is that "bad" or "improper?" Of course not.


- B