Today in History – December 13, 1928 – Today is Clip-on Tie Day. That’s right, on this day, 79 years ago, someone (and I couldn’t find out who) invented the clip-on tie. This fine fashion accessory often gets a bad wrap. People belittle it as the tie for people that don’t know how to tie a tie themselves.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with what a clip-on tie is, it is essentially a bow tie or four in hand tie which is permanently tied into its knot with a dimple just below the knot. Instead of looping around the neck, this tie is simply fixed to the front of the shirt collar with a metal clip. Though it doesn’t look as much like a real tie to fool everyone, and may accidentally come off with a too-hard tug, many people use clip-on ties every day.

The fact that a clip-on tie is likely to come off should it be tugged is actually a wonderful safety feature, especially for people such as police, paramedics, and engineers. Many of these occupations require personnel to use clip-on rather than full ties. Others might be mocked for wearing clip-ons because they don’t know how to tie a tie, or because they feel it is less restrictive, but the good old clip-on redeems itself by helping many wearers stay out of harms way. So here’s to that mysterious inventor of the clip-on tie. Harrah!

Meanwhile, to help make sure you’re never caught out not knowing what knot to tie, check out the Engineering Pathway’s resources on knot design and mathematics.