[♪♩INTRO].

Before we start, I need you to calm down. If you've found this video with a quick search on Google or YouTube, then it probably means you don't wear a necktie very often and you're trying to figure it out on your way out the door.

Or you're watching this video because you're subscribed to the channel and you got a notification, in which case—hey, thanks. Either way, just take a deep breath and relax. It's a lot harder to tie a necktie when you're frustrated.

And neckties can definitely be frustrating. There are more than a dozen knots to choose from, and that's just for one standard kind of tie. What about bowties, or bolo ties?

So let's focus on three knots for a regular ol' necktie. KNOT 1: Four-In-Hand. The four-in-hand knot is probably the easiest and quickest way to tie a tie.

It's easy to do with almost no practice, but the trade-off is that the knot itself tends to get a little wonky and off-center. If you're a sailor, you might actually recognize this knot as a buntline hitch, so you can just skip to the next section, you already know this one. As with all of these knots, step one is to start with your collar up and the tie draped around your neck.

The wide end should be on your left, and the seam should be against your body. You'll want the tip of the narrow end to be higher than the wide end, but exactly where it should be depends on how long the tie is, how thick your neck is, and how tall your torso is. If you haven't tied many ties before, take note of where you decide to start here—until you have an idea of how your tie fits your body, you're probably going to have to start over a couple times to adjust this step.

Step two: With the tie in place, swing the wide end over the top of the narrow end, so they are crossed. Step three: Then, wrap the wide end all the way around the narrow end, so it ends up in the same place as before but with a loop containing the narrow end. Step four: Now pull the wide end up and through the loop around your neck, then down through the loop around the narrow end.

Step five: Tighten that sucker up by pulling down on the wide end, then holding the narrow end while you slide the knot up to your neck. Remember how I said you were probably going to have to start over? This is where you find out.

If the narrow end sticks out down below the wide end, then go back to step one and adjust the tie so the narrow end hangs a little higher and the wide end hangs lower. If the wide end hangs down to your knees, go back and adjust the tie the other way. Once you tie the tie a couple times, you'll find that sweet spot where it hangs just right.

The widest part of the tie should just about reach the top of your belt. KNOT 2: The Windsor: also the Double Windsor or Full Windsor. The Windsor knot is the classic necktie knot.

It's a little more involved than the four-in-hand, but the payoff is that the final knot is symmetrical and looks sharp as heck. I wouldn't expect any less from a knot invented by the dad of a Duke. The Duke of Windsor's dad came up with this knot.

Is what I'm saying. Steps one and two are the exact same as the four-in-hand: wide end on your left, hanging lower than the narrow end, then cross the wide end over the top. We should note that the starting position in step one will be different—this knot uses more of the tie than the four-in-hand does, so err on the side of starting with the wide end a little lower.

Step three is where we really switch it up: instead of looping around the back of the narrow end, bring the wide end up through the neck loop and back down to where it was at the end of step two. Step four: Now loop it around the back of the narrow end. Step five: From here, you'll bring the wide end back through the neck loop, but from the front this time instead of behind.

Step six: Take the wide end, cross it from the left around the narrow end to the right. Step seven: Pull the wide end through the neck loop from behind, then drop it down through the loop you created in step six. Step eight: Tighten it up and check your work!

Again, you may have to start over just depending on step one. Luckily, both these knots are self-releasing, which means you can just pull the narrow end out of the top of the knot and the whole thing comes apart. It's self-releasing.

Yeah. KNOT 3: The Eldredge Knot. This knot says: I will vanquish my enemies.

Look at this thing! Invented by Jeffrey Eldredge in 2007, this knot is the youngest on our list, in addition to being the most elaborate and also difficult. Some people call it eye-catching, some people call it obnoxious.

One thing is for sure: this is not the knot you use if you don't want people to have an opinion about your necktie. There is one other thing for sure, too, now that I think about it: this one will probably take you a few attempts before you nail it. The Eldredge knot works best with solid colored ties or ties with small patterns.

Big stripes will clash with the layering. Step one: Drape that tie around your neck, but this time we're switching things up immediately. Instead of the wide end on your left, you'll start with the wide end on your right.

You'll also start with the wide end exactly the length that you want in the end—all the actual knot tying is done with the narrow end this time. Step two: Cross the narrow end to the right, over the top of the wide end. Step three: Wrap the narrow end around the back, then up around the front.

Step four: Now bring the narrow end down through the neck loop and poking out to the right. Step five: Cross the narrow end over the front of the wide end, and pull it up through the neck loop. Step six: Pull it back down to the right, then cross behind the wide end to the left.

Step seven: Cross back to the left in front of the wide end, and go through the loop you created in step six. Step eight: Take your ever-shrinking narrow end, which should be parallel to the neck loop, and pull it back and down through the neck loop and to the right. Step nine: Bring the narrow end up, then go back down through the neck loop so the narrow end pokes out behind and to the left of the wide end.

Step ten: Cross the narrow end over to the right once more, passing through the loop you created in step nine so it's back to being parallel with the neck loop. Step eleven: Almost finished! All you have to do now is hide what remains of the narrow end.

Depending on how much is left, you can either wrap it back around so it hangs behind like in a Windsor knot, or you can just tuck it behind and run it along the neck loop under your collar. You're done! Or, at least, you've finished your first attempt.

There's no shame in trying again if it doesn't look quite right. I do that with the Four-In-Hand every time. And if you just can't get any of these to work, there's clip-on ties on Amazon, and that two-day shipping...

Now that you've got your tie all nice and neat, get to your event! Go! Don't be late!

Traffic is terrible at this time of day. Unless you're watching this in the middle of the night, I guess, but if that's the case you probably already missed the wedding, so maybe just hang out and watch some of our other videos. We've got a bunch of them.

You could probably stand to brush up on your tax prep. Either way, in six months when you need to relearn one of these knots, it'll be a lot easier to find us again if you subscribe at youtube.com/learnhowtoadult. And if you're feeling extra generous and want to help us help you with more videos like this one, you can support us at patreon.com/howtoadult.

Either way, take a deep breath and relax. It's a lot harder to tie a tah-tah-tah-tah-tah-tah-tah-tie. Buttoning your top button is an important step that I forgot to do. [laughs].

So err on the side of starting with a little wide, with a little low. [laughter] [brain fart noise]. Invented by Jeffrey Eldredge in 2007. This knot is basically a cellphone.

I can't believe you did this. Did you do this just now? [off-screen] Yeah. Looks great.

Now I have to figure out how to take this tie off. I can't believe we invented a tie knot in 2007! What is the world?

I'm just going to take it off. I'm going to take it off and give it to you. You deal with it. [laughter].