Trump’s Republicans Are Bringing Back the Worst Tie Knot
StyleFrom Zuck to Bezos, the new technopolitical elite opted for James Bond’s least favorite necktie presentation at Trump’s inauguration. As our returning commander in chief might say, “Sad!”By Eileen CartterJanuary 21, 2025Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, and Jeff Bezos attend President Trump’s inauguration on Monday.Pool/Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySaveBy this point, we all know what it looks like when Donald Trump wears a tie. That tie—it’s going to be big. It’s probably going to be red. And it’s definitely going to be fastened with the hamfisted inverted triangle of a full Windsor knot.On Monday, as Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, he and his VP, JD Vance, both opted for reddish, Windsor-knotted neckties, making for some low-hanging symbolism of their fiery Republican sensibilities. The Windsor knot, like many of Trump’s aesthetic proclivities, is a relic of bygone aristocrats (its namesake is the abdicatin’ Duke of Windsor) and its beefy, symmetrical shape has long been considered passé by menswear aficionados. According to author Ian Fleming’s fifth James Bond novel—titled, funnily enough, From Russia With Love—the fictional international superspy/real-life fashion icon was never a fan.“Bond mistrusted anyone who tied his tie with a Windsor knot,” Fleming wrote. “It showed too much vanity. It was often the mark of a cad.”At their inauguration ceremony, Vice President JD Vance and President Trump both sported Windsor-knotted ties. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/Getty ImagesCads in Windsor knots abounded at Monday’s ceremony. Seated together in a murders’ row of folding chairs, Silicon Valley’s tech elite—Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk—had prime-view seats to the inaugural happenings in the Capitol Rotunda. Like Trump and Vance, Zuckerberg and Bezos both wore unexceptional navy suits and wide burgundy-toned neckties knotted with chunky, triangular Windsors. (The two CEOs were also accompanied by their partners, and in another curious instance of sartorial symmetry, Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan and Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez both wore optic-white jacketed ensembles.)Pichai, who sported a purplish printed tie, also opted for the Windsor. Musk, who always manages to stray from the pack for one reason or another, went for a four-in-hand—nominally GQ’s knot of choice, though Musk’s appeared rather sloppily tied, and he fussed with his solid navy necktie throughout the event.Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Pool/Getty ImagesTrump’s family, including Donald Trump Jr. (bright red tie, full Windsor) and Eric Trump (baby blue tie, half Windsor), followed their father’s example. Even 18-year-old Barron Trump, in contrast to the hip Gen-Z tie aficionados of menswear TikTok, looked like an old timer in his wide Windsor knot.Meanwhile, Jared Kushner—whose somewhat-recent past as a New York City socialite has set him apart, sartorially, from his in-laws—dressed like most elder-millennial men who spent their formative years in late-aughts Manhattan would for a business-formal occasion. He wore his skinny navy suit with an even skinnier navy tie, which was knotted with a decent, if undimpled, four-in-hand.Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesLast March, we noted the rarity of seeing three living presidents—Obama, Biden, and Clinton—all sans tie. It felt off, somehow. Now that we’ve swung back in the direction of widespread, gargantuan Windsors, it feels like we may never regain balance in the neckwear force again.
By this point, we all know what it looks like when Donald Trump wears a tie. That tie—it’s going to be big. It’s probably going to be red. And it’s definitely going to be fastened with the hamfisted inverted triangle of a full Windsor knot.
On Monday, as Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, he and his VP, JD Vance, both opted for reddish, Windsor-knotted neckties, making for some low-hanging symbolism of their fiery Republican sensibilities. The Windsor knot, like many of Trump’s aesthetic proclivities, is a relic of bygone aristocrats (its namesake is the abdicatin’ Duke of Windsor) and its beefy, symmetrical shape has long been considered passé by menswear aficionados. According to author Ian Fleming’s fifth James Bond novel—titled, funnily enough, From Russia With Love—the fictional international superspy/real-life fashion icon was never a fan.
“Bond mistrusted anyone who tied his tie with a Windsor knot,” Fleming wrote. “It showed too much vanity. It was often the mark of a cad.”
Cads in Windsor knots abounded at Monday’s ceremony. Seated together in a murders’ row of folding chairs, Silicon Valley’s tech elite—Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk—had prime-view seats to the inaugural happenings in the Capitol Rotunda. Like Trump and Vance, Zuckerberg and Bezos both wore unexceptional navy suits and wide burgundy-toned neckties knotted with chunky, triangular Windsors. (The two CEOs were also accompanied by their partners, and in another curious instance of sartorial symmetry, Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan and Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez both wore optic-white jacketed ensembles.)
Pichai, who sported a purplish printed tie, also opted for the Windsor. Musk, who always manages to stray from the pack for one reason or another, went for a four-in-hand—nominally GQ’s knot of choice, though Musk’s appeared rather sloppily tied, and he fussed with his solid navy necktie throughout the event.
Trump’s family, including Donald Trump Jr. (bright red tie, full Windsor) and Eric Trump (baby blue tie, half Windsor), followed their father’s example. Even 18-year-old Barron Trump, in contrast to the hip Gen-Z tie aficionados of menswear TikTok, looked like an old timer in his wide Windsor knot.
Meanwhile, Jared Kushner—whose somewhat-recent past as a New York City socialite has set him apart, sartorially, from his in-laws—dressed like most elder-millennial men who spent their formative years in late-aughts Manhattan would for a business-formal occasion. He wore his skinny navy suit with an even skinnier navy tie, which was knotted with a decent, if undimpled, four-in-hand.
Last March, we noted the rarity of seeing three living presidents—Obama, Biden, and Clinton—all sans tie. It felt off, somehow. Now that we’ve swung back in the direction of widespread, gargantuan Windsors, it feels like we may never regain balance in the neckwear force again.
