The Pratt knot, commonly also called the “Shelby”, is a wider and symmetric looking tie knot. It is the perfect knot for ties made from light to medium fabrics, and suits those who are looking for a medium-sized, triangular looking tie knot.
Pratt Knot Instructions:
- Lay the tie around your neck with the stitching facing outward. The wide end of the tie should have at least 2/3 lower than the narrow end.
- Place the wide end under the narrow end.
- Wrap the wide end around the part of the tie that goes around the neck as shown in picture #3.
- Slightly pull this first wrapping tight.
- Then, take wide end of the tie over the narrow end and wrap around the opposite side as shown in illustration #5.
- Pull the knot tight and give some final adjustment.
Pratt Knot vs. Four in Hand
Both knots seem similar at first – at least when looking at the illustrations. One big difference however is the way the tie knot is started. The Pratt knot requires you to lay the tie around your neck so that the stitching faces out while the four in Hand is started with the stitching facing towards you. Although both knots are tied in similar fashion, the Pratt knot is more triangular looking and also a touch larger in size.