Shortening neckties

[dah328]

Most of my ties end up too long when tied with a FIH knot. Can they be shortened? Any recommendations on places that could handle that?

dan

 

[bry2000]

Do the Prince Albert, which is the FIH wrapped around twice. You consume a lot of tie that way.

 

[j]

http://tiecrafters.com/alterations.html Also good at cleaning ties, so send them a bunch to do at once to save on shipping. They have a pretty good rep on the fora.

 

[dah328]

Thanks for the responses. I'll try the Prince Albert knot and see how it works. Tiecrafters wants $20 per tie to shorten one. I can buy a good tie off ebay for that much.

dan

 

[bry2000]

The ALbert should work or do a half windsor.

 

[Sam Hober]

Dan,

I agree with everyone else, go for the prince Albert or start watching eBay as you suggested.

If you want a tie shortened by a dry cleaner or someone like that, as a general rule they will quickly open a tie cut out part of the silk and interlining and sew it back together. Often this can be acceptable, but where you tie your knot will not be the same width, and the quality of the sewing may or may not be the same as the original maker.

If your tie is something really beautiful that you want to keep then you also need to consider going to the next level which is basically opening the whole tie and adjusting the shape of the tie so that your knot will tie the same as before, and then very carefully resewing the tie.

Think of it this way: If you had a classic 1968 mustang that you really love and it had rust but the engine was in great shape, you might be tempted to pull it apart and completely redo it. It can be done, but it is an expensive and time consuming process.

Correctly, shortening a tie is the same. Thats why we don't shorten ties. It is almost easier for us to make a new tie with a custom made pattern.

 

[arvi]

i've had some shortened by my tailor..not a problem and should cost much less than tiecrafters

 

[Phil]

I would get it shortened if its too long. Arvi's suggestion sounds great. You cant just tell someone to use a windsor or something similar without alot of other information.

* What if the material of the tie is thick? A windsor knot would make a huge knot and look silly to the wearer.

*The kind of collars he likes to wear arent mentioned. He might prefer collars that dont really look good with bigger knots.

*He may not like big knots. I know I dont. I like a really tight FIH, and it looks just right with my tennis collars. If I changed to a windsor it would look silly. I dont have the space to accomodate such a big knot.

If you dont want to spend any money to get it shortened, simply do what a friend of mine who works at Saks does. He puts the thin end of the tie in his dress shirt. Just puts it in there, and no one knows its there.

 

[arvi]

.  

If you dont want to spend any money to get it shortened, simply do what a friend of mine who works at Saks does.  He puts the thin end of the tie in his dress shirt.  Just puts it in there, and no one knows its there.

almost forgot..this is what i do most often

 

[dah328]

I tried the Prince Albert knot yesterday and it wasn't too much bigger than a FIH. Half windsor knots are too big for most of my collars. I may go with the inexpensive tie shortening since tucking the tail end of a tie into my shirt would bug me.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

dan