The Pratt Knot was the first new knot reported to the Neckwear Association of America in fifty years. It was invented by Jerry Pratt, who used to work in the United States Chamber of Commerce. He had been tying his necktie that way for 20 years, before he reported it to the Neckwear Association during the late 1980s. In 1989, this knot was featured in the New York Times(US), and in the Daily Telegraph (UK). If you ever hear this knot referred to as the Shelby knot, it was because Don Shelby featured it on TV, and was mistakenly identified by the New York City fashion stylists as the inventor of the Pratt Knot. What's interesting about this knot is that you start with the tie inside out. That means turning the pattern inward inside your collar, and having the front of the tie facing backward underneath the tail end. Sounds very strange, yet it all works out as shown in the diagram. Here are the full instructions on how to tie the Pratt Knot. The tail end of the tie stays the wrong way the whole time if you follow these instructions to the letter. If you don't want this, twist the tie to the right way before doing the final tighten. The resulting knot is tidy and fairly wide but not as wide as the Windsor knot.

Steps in Tying the Pratt Knot (1) Put tie on inside out (pattern towards the neck), with the front of the tie underneath and facing inward. (2)Pull front (thick end) of tie up and through the neck loop. Continue to pull this end down. (3) Pull the loop down and tighten.

(4)Pull thick end of tie to the left with left hand.

(5) Pull thick end behind the neck-loop and up, in preparation for final tuck.

(6)Finally pull the front of the tie down through the tuck and gently tighten.