the pratt. or, the shelby. or, the shell.
I consider myself a sartorially informed person. No doubt there are huge gaps, particularly when it comes to women's fashion, but, really, if you wonder which of your friends cares about gauntlet-button placement, or which will enthuse about the club collars in Downton Abbey, or which will get excited about a really good un-blingy cufflink, you won't be wondering too long, right? That's because you know that I'm a fan of all that stuff and truly enjoy dressing right.
That's why it's so odd that, at the age of 45, I'm just now finding out about the Pratt knot, also called the Shelby knot, also called the Shell knot. It's a way of tying your tie. Every man knows about the big studly Windsor knot, and its slighter but perfectly symmetrical half-Windsor, and the insouciant four-in-hand, which I've been using almost exclusively since college.
But now I find out about the Pratt knot! Crazy! It's like finding out there's a fourth primary color. How on earth can it be? As it turns out, the Pratt is fairly similar to the knot of my own invention that I used throughout high school, where I developed it as a way of conserving tie length when I wore loosened ties with untucked shirts —– a casual, preppy-but-not-fussy look if you can pull it off —– starting in about eleventh grade. (I wore a tie to school just about every day of my junior and senior years.)
Anyway, you start off kind of backwards from how you'd start off doing a Windsor or four-in-hand, with the seam facing out and the skinny end on the other side of your neck. The result is a pleasantly puffy, very symmetrical knot that's good for tall guys and stylishly versatile.
Behold the Pratt knot.
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