Unlined Seven-fold Neckties

This is the first in a series of articles about tie construction.

Seven-fold ties are a type of necktie construction made popular in the 1980s by Robert Talbott in Monterey, California. Talbott was a man who loved ties and was great at public relations.

He claimed to have rediscovered the construction which was once popular before the great depression. His story was made even more colorful by describing how he found two old ladies in retirement who had made 7-fold ties a long time ago.

In 2006 I asked Richard S. a retired necktie maker and amateur tie historian his thoughts.

"I've seen ad's from early 1930's magazine's showing the Seven-Fold ties. One such shop which also sold dress shirts and other haberdashery was "Wilson Brothers Haberdashery" from Chicago, Illinois"

Necktie aficionado "Decline and Fall" found illustrated advertisements of 7-fold ties from 1935 to 1938 in the New York Times from Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Weber and Heilbroner, Rogers Peet, John Wanamaker, Stein Bloch & Macys.

The prices ranged from $.85 at Wanamakers to $4.94 at Macys.

In December of 2006 Mariano Rubinacci was asked by Matt S. about unlined seven-folds and he said that he remembered selling the 7-folds like Talbott makes in the 50s as a kid, but thinks that they changed sometime in the 60s.

He gave two reasons:

1.  The unlined 7 folds twist too much for his taste
2.  Many of the great tie makers stopped making ties.  Apparently a lot of the old ties were made by nuns for the various shops and they stopped doing so.

So now we have sightings from 1930s in America and the 1950s in Naples. Also stores in France continued to sell unlined 7-fold ties.

Is it possible that the unlined 7-fold construction never really died out at all?

Classic "American" Seven-Fold Necktie Pattern To make your own pattern you simply adjust the length and width and you are all set. You do not need to purchase a pattern. Note the diagonal center line, this is where you join the two pieces of silk together. It is a sartorial myth that 7-folds are only made from one piece of silk. The tips of both ends of the tie are folded over and hand sewn into place. The tie keeper should be sewn into the tie. No interlining is needed for this construction. For some practical tips on tie construction please see this link: Sam Hober Tie construction Please note that time does not allow us to answer individual questions on tie construction.

Another variation is the "Italian" style which is actually a lined 6-fold tie. Often Italian 6-folds will be incorrectly referred to as 7-folds. Most likely this was an innocent mistake made in the late 1980s by a number of Italian tie makers.

Lined 6-fold ties tend to drape better, wrinkle less and make fuller knots - with all the elegance and artisanal craftsmanship of the unlined 7-fold.

The story that seven-fold construction was the original method of tie making is a wonderful story but is a sartorial myth.

This is an example of the unlined seven-fold ties that Sam Hober makes. Note the hand sewn edges of both the large and small tips. The keeper is sewn into the center of the tie so that it will stay in place for years. If you look carefully you will see the slip stitch which is used to sew the back of the tie closed.