HISTORY
The brief reign of King Edward VIII has largely
been consigned to the footnotes in history textbooks, and not without good
reason. The monarch both came to the throne and left it in 1936, having
abdicated for U.S. divorcée Wallis Simpson. During his reign, he was open
in his praise of Adolf Hitler and there is speculation he may have been a
little too friendly with Nazi Germany. To top it off, he was gawky as only
inbred royals can be. But, despite the man's ineptitude, the Duke of
Windsor's one redeeming contribution to society, the Windsor tie knot,
lives on in both half and full incarnations.
The average man's necktie is fastened with the
Four-In-Hand, the simplest knot there is. The Half Windsor is one step
above that in complexity, but produces a similarly skinny knot that fails
to fill the space in most collars. And what's worse, the simpler knot
tends to jut off to the side at awkward angles, leading to the impression
that the crooked tie may reflect the qualities of its owner. In the
cutthroat worlds of high finance and industry, the Half Windsor reigns
supreme. Think about this as you're sitting across from your Half
Windsored financial advisor: Is this really the man you want handling your
RRSPs? If you're lucky, he might get you half the return you deserve. No,
when you want to make a good impression, you want to go all the way. You
want the Full Windsor.
 
The Windsor Knot Illustration
by Virginia Johnson
Consider, in contrast, what the Full
Windsor connotes. On a Sunday morning, is there anything more enjoyable
than a Full English breakfast? Similarly, the film The Full Monty would
certainly not have worked had it been called The Half Monty.
Some might argue the Full Windsor is an
anachronism, a style most at home on the neck of a 1970s-era Quebec
cabinet minister. Admittedly, with the addition of a dangling cigarette,
that would be true. But is that really a bad thing? During the FLQ crisis,
then premier Robert Bourassa looked into the TV camera and announced his
fierce resolve. He was wearing a Full Windsor and the message was clear:
He was not to be trifled with. Sure, he had to call in the feds, but at
the end of the day, he was running Quebec (and would continue to, on and
off into the 1990s).
The Full Windsor may suffer the stigma
in some circles of being an old man's knot. This is nonsense, says Mark
Eaton, a Winnipeg bon vivant in his early 20s. "I learned the Full
Windsor in Jesuit school, and since then it has been my tie knot of
choice. It's a ballsy knot," Eaton says. He recalls that his peers,
who opted for simpler knots, always looked somewhat shady. One fellow who
wore a leather zip-up tie is now stealing cars, says Eaton. Though the
link between inferior neckwear and moral rectitude may be only
circumstantial, there may be a message here.
Admittedly, the Full Windsor is not all
sweetness and light. As a more complex manoeuvre, it does require a larger
expanse of tie. Furthermore, one must possess manual dexterity to pull it
off. And the knot it produces may, ultimately, appear unappealingly large
on smaller men. Having a sizable head is a recommended prerequisite for
the Full Windsor. But if you've got the appropriate ties and cranial
proportions, go the whole hog and tie the Full Windsor. Those in the know
will see you as a better person for it. - by
Benjamin Errett Saturday Post 23 February 2002
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