What is required for the perfect tie dimple?

[scatterbrain]

So, I've become somewhat obsessed with getting the perfect tie dimple.


You more experienced members: How come some ties give a perfect, teardrop-shaped tie dimple, like this:


And others give this horrible crevice, like this:



I'm not talking differences in the way it's tied; I'm tying all of the ties in question.

Is it the silk? The interlining? the width of the blade? I've taken to tying ties before I buy them; is there any other way to tell?

 

[Claghorn]

A good wool interlining...at least for lined ties...probably makes the most difference. After that, the quality of the silk.

 

[mgshaz]

A good wool interlining...at least for lined ties...probably makes the most difference. After that, the quality of the silk.

+1

As nice as some of the Vanda-esque unlined ties are, if there isn't enough heft to the silk it's going to be tough to get the desired breadth with a normal four-in-hand knot. On the other hand, if you go too thick on the silk (especially with true 7-folds), you'll end up with a mess that simply won't hold a proper dimple. Malleability is probably the most important aspect, and much of that comes from the interlining, like Claghorn mentions. For a consistently easy dimple, I've found Charvet to work pretty well.

 

[aravenel]



A good wool interlining...at least for lined ties...probably makes the most difference. After that, the quality of the silk.

This. I have ties that tie beautiful, Spoo-like knots on the first try, and I have ties that I struggle with every time. In almost all cases, it's the interlining that makes the difference.

 

[Henry Carter]

Linen interlining works well also. I line a lot of my thicker silks with linen to balance out the heft in them and they still dimple very well.

I'd say the problems generally arise from lining that is synthetic in most cases.