To dimple or not dimple

[javyn]

I've noticed that hardly anyone I see dimples their ties, especially while wearing a wider, Windsor knot. I love the way the dimple looks and do it to all my knots, even on the bad days where I can't get it right in the middle and it ends up being on one side or the other. (Sometimes the sloppiness seems to work somehow too, so I leave it.)

What do you all prefer, especially with the full Windsor?

 

[Kent Wang]

A dimple also helps to arch the tie properly.

 

[gdl203]

what does "forward thrust" mean?

 

[javyn]

What do you think about the thrust/inverted dimple. I think it looks kinda crappy, but it seems to be the most popular way.

Instead of dimpling the bottom of the knot, poofing it outward is what I meant by 'thrust' sorry.

 

[Renault78law]

Originally Posted by javyn

What do you think about the thrust/inverted dimple. I think it looks kinda crappy, but it seems to be the most popular way.

Instead of dimpling the bottom of the knot, poofing it outward is what I meant by 'thrust' sorry.
you mean double dimple?

 

[LabelKing]

It seems to me it's because most people's tie knots are too limp. This is a sort of thrust:

 

[javyn]

Like the middle of that double dimple, but with no dimples at all. Just convex.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by Renault78law

you mean double dimple?

If this is what was meant by "thrust", I would have to change my answer to that one. I don't like my dimple to be centered and I like assymetry, so I always form the dimple on one side or the other (but only rarely both like that picture)

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by javyn

Like the middle of that double dimple, but with no dimples at all. Just convex.

wow - I'm completely lost. I have no idea what you mean now

 

[thinman]

I always dimple, but I'm going to start experimenting with the pleated look ("double dimple&quot shown by Renault78law with some of my lighter-weight ties.

 

[JLibourel]

I sorta thought double-dimpling was definitely substandard--a real sartorial faux pas--although I have noticed the some of my ties seem to have a real propensity for double-dimpling. I can remember that when I met Andy Gilchrist for lunch, I was very embarrassed that my necktie was double-dimpled.

 

[Film Noir Buff]

A Dimple in the knot is very zen:

http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/article/the-art-of-tie-chi

 

[javyn]

Hey gdl203, imagine tying one with no dimple and then pinching the bottom of the knot so it bumps outward. I tried tying one just now like that myself to snap a pic of but I couldn't do it! I guess dimples are unavoidable b/c of my left handed freakishness or I just need practice (Not that I will, I don't like the way it looks anyway.)

Perhaps what I've seen are the double dimple but with the dimples on the sides so small that I haven't noticed them. What is noticeable is the prominent bulge outward in the middle by pinching.

I don't know what the correct name for it is, or if there even is one, but I saw one site describe it as "thrust" and liked that term.

A description from this site

Personally, I have to wonder why you would want the dimple at all, from a dress-for-success standpoint. You rarely see the dimple at the CEO level, where they favor the forward thrust of the lower part of the knot. My guess is that when they see the dimple in their mirror in the morning, they stick their thumb up under the back of the knot and push it out. Nice and assertive.

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by Renault78law

you mean double dimple?

That looks like a failed knot, something that I'd retie.

Here's a photo of AlanC's beautifully executed double dimple, though he claims it was happenstance.

 

[Vintage Gent]

I'm definately a fan of the single dimple, although a tie is an organic thing; some simply have natural tendency to default into a double dimple.