How-to

First Tie Clip in Six Steps: Fasten Tie and Shirt Between Buttons 3 and 4

A tie bar is functional, not merely decorative: it secures your tie to your shirt placket. Follow original advice from The Tie Bar and OTAA, plus Mens Fashioner's demonstration, to check bar length, placement and tension.

4 min read2026-10-27

Mens Fashioner's original practical demonstration of tie bar length and placement

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OriginalThe Tie Bar's official bar placement and shirt-placket guideThe Tie Bar — Tie Bar Placement Rules · Original publisher

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01

What you need

Necktie and buttoned dress shirt
Tie bar narrower than the tie
Mirror
Optional: suit jacket

02

How to

1. Button your dress shirt and tie your necktie to its usual length. Smooth both the wide front blade and narrow rear blade down the center of the shirt.
2. Hold the clip against the tie and check their widths. The Tie Bar and OTAA suggest a clip around three-quarters the tie's width. Above all, do not choose a bar that projects beyond the tie edges.
3. Count from the top of the shirt and locate the space between its third and fourth buttons. This classic guide helps avoid setting the bar too close to the collar or down near the waist.
4. Secure the front and back tie blades together with the shirt's button placket. Clipping only the two tie blades does not anchor the tie to your shirt.
5. Keep the clip approximately horizontal and allow a little ease so neither the tie nor the shirt puckers. Check that the fastening mechanism remains secure.
6. Put on your jacket and inspect the placement in a mirror, then bend forward briefly to see whether the tie stays in place. The Tie Bar suggests skipping a tie clip with bow ties or when a waistcoat already holds your tie. Wearing a clip is a choice, not an obligation.

One more tip

The position between shirt buttons three and four and a bar roughly three-quarters of the tie width are common traditional guidelines, not mandatory rules for all bodies and jackets. A bow tie or a necktie secured under a waistcoat generally does not need a tie bar.

Sources and media

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