10 things you never knew about: Ties

"With an evening coat, and a white tie, anybody, even a stock broker, can gain a reputation for being civilized." - Oscar Wilde.

For most guys, nearly choking yourself to death with a fancy tie in the morning is as natural as brushing one's teeth. The wife helps you pick out a nice one, people insist on gifting you a classy one, your father teaches you how to tie one, your boss tells you he taught you wrong, and finally, you're left wondering where the darned fabric contraption came from anyway!

How is it possible that for so many years, we've blindly tied this silk cloth under our collar without questioning its very existence? That's where we come in. We're closet philosophers here at Guylife, constantly pondering the meaning of the universe, life and well... even ties.

So, with that in mind, here's a treasure trove of unique and interesting facts about ties that we're fairly certain you never even knew:

Fact One: We'll start with the name itself because it wasn't always called a tie, you know. The modern-day necktie actually originated from a silk scarf worn by Croatian soldiers, from where it went on to be known as the cravate.

However, as far as origins go, the actual fashion of wearing such a garment has been linked as far back as 210 BC to a Chinese emperor called Shih Huang Ti.

Fact Two: There are only four main types of knots you can tie and they are as follows:

The Four-in-Hand: This is the easiest and the most common since it only takes four steps.

Pratt Knot: Also known as the Shelby, it takes six steps.

The Half Windsor: This one's a bit more fancy as it takes nine whole steps; but if you're planning to dine with royalty, this is the knot you want to go for!

The Windsor: This is obviously twice as fancy as the Half Windsor. This bad boy may require the same number of steps, but it's way thicker! Ideal for diner with the Gods perhaps?

Fact Three: Believe it or not, neckties are actually banned in Iran because--you guessed it--they're Western! That's why you'll always see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in suits and jackets, but never a tie. So, are suits and jackets meant to be Eastern chic?!

Fact Four: Till date, the tie is the most popular Father's Day gift around the world. No surprises there!

Fact Five: In 1993, a Marv Beloff invented a wooden bow tie. He sold nine basic homemade styles and insisted that the only things one would have to worry about when wearing these would be "termites and flies." Full marks for his sense of humor!

Fact Six: Americans spend a staggering $1 billion or more a year to buy... wait for it... 100 million ties! And here's a real shocker: to make just one good quality silk tie, 110 silkworm cocoons are needed! So, you can imagine how many silk worms ply their trade just so fancy Americans can wear ties--for the record that's 11,000,000,000 silk worms!

Fact Seven: It's actually possible to buy a bulletproof tie today--that it is capable of stopping a 9 mm bullet.

Fact Eight: The world's most expensive tie was created by Indian designer, Satya Paul for a 2004 Mumbai fashion show--and it cost a whopping $250,000. What made it so special? Well, for one thing it was made of pure silk that was studded with 261 diamonds! Forget the Windsor Knot, because if you're going to dine with royalty, this is the tie you want to wear!

Fact Nine: The width and the length of the tie have changed incessantly over the years. After World War II, the Americans came home and turned to the "bold look" ready to live large. Ties from that era were as wide as 5 inches, but the trend only lasted two years what with all the garish prints and ridiculous sizes. Tie shrunk back to 2.5 inch inches in width, until the 1970s when crazy cravates made a comeback.

The 1960s saw the thinnest ties, where the width went down to only 1 inch! Today, ties have widened back to 3.5 inches.

Fact Ten: People who collect ties are called grabatologists.

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