The Tie Bar vs. The Knottery: Where to Buy Cheap Ties

If you walk into a high-end luxury menswear boutique (like Tom Ford or Ermenegildo Zegna) and look at the price tag on a silk necktie, you might suffer a mild heart attack. It is not uncommon for designer ties to cost anywhere from $200 to $350.

For the average professional who needs to wear a tie to the office five days a week, spending $2,500 to build a basic rotation of ten ties is absolutely absurd.

Thankfully, the internet has completely disrupted the neckwear industry. Two direct-to-consumer companies emerged over the last decade with the exact same mission: to provide stylish, high-quality neckties for roughly $25.

The Tie Bar is the undisputed, massive corporate heavyweight of the industry, ubiquitous in the closets of almost every American professional. The Knottery (now operating under various direct-to-consumer umbrellas) was the scrappy, Brooklyn-based underdog that catered specifically to menswear nerds and the Tumblr menswear aesthetic.

If you have $25 to spend, which brand actually deserves your money? We bought ties from both companies, wore them, tied them, and cut them open to inspect the interlining. Here is the definitive showdown.

1. Fabric Quality and Selection

A cheap tie is usually ruined by its fabric. If a tie is made of cheap, shiny polyester, it will look like plastic and will never tie a proper knot. Both of these companies promise 100% silk, cotton, or wool.

The Tie Bar

The Tie Bar’s greatest strength is its sheer volume. Their inventory is staggering. If you need a very specific shade of “coral pink” for a summer wedding, The Tie Bar will have it in a solid, a stripe, a polka dot, and a paisley.

• The Silk: Their standard silk ties are good, but not great. Because they have to maintain the $25 price point across massive production runs, the silk can sometimes feel a bit thin and overly smooth (lacking the rich, slubby texture of high-end silk).
• The Knit Ties: Where The Tie Bar truly shines is their knit ties. For $25, their silk knit ties are phenomenal—crunchy, textured, and incredibly durable.

The Knottery

The Knottery operates on a much smaller scale. They don’t have thousands of options; they release highly curated, seasonal collections.

• The Fabrics: Because they don’t produce massive volumes, they often source more interesting, textured fabrics. Their raw silk (shantung) ties, their heavy wool ties, and their linen blends are genuinely exceptional for the price point. The fabrics feel denser and more luxurious than The Tie Bar’s standard offerings.
• The Vibe: The patterns are less “corporate boardroom” and more “vintage Ivy League.” You will find a lot of classic rep stripes, ancient madder prints, and heavy tweeds.

Winner: The Knottery. The Tie Bar wins on sheer volume and color matching, but The Knottery offers significantly more interesting, textured, and luxurious fabrics.

2. Construction and The Interlining

The secret to a great tie is not the silk on the outside; it is the hidden “interlining” on the inside. The interlining is a piece of wool or cotton canvas sewn inside the tie to give it weight, drape, and shape.

If a tie has a cheap, thin, synthetic interlining, it will tie a tiny, pathetic knot that looks like a shoelace. If it has a thick, high-quality interlining, it will tie a thick, robust, majestic knot (like a Half-Windsor) that creates a beautiful “dimple” just below the knot.

The Tie Bar

To maintain their margins, The Tie Bar’s standard silk ties often use a relatively thin interlining.

• The Knot Test: When you tie a standard Four-in-Hand knot with a Tie Bar silk tie, the knot is quite small. It can be difficult to get a really pronounced, sculptural dimple to hold its shape all day long. The tie feels slightly flimsy in the hand.

The Knottery

The Knottery heavily marketed the fact that they use a robust, heavy wool interlining, attempting to mimic the construction of a $150 Drake’s tie.

• The Knot Test: The difference is immediately noticeable. A tie from The Knottery feels substantial. When you tie it, the knot is thick, proud, and holds a deep, perfect dimple with almost no effort. The tie drapes beautifully down your chest because it has proper physical weight.

Winner: The Knottery. Their robust interlining drastically improves how the tie performs and looks when actually worn around the neck.

3. Widths and Proportions

The width of your tie must roughly match the width of your suit lapels. If you wear a massive 4-inch 1990s tie with a modern, skinny 2-inch lapel, you look ridiculous.

The Tie Bar

Because they cater to the massive mainstream market, they offer multiple width options for almost every tie: Skinny (2 inches), Modern (2.5 inches), and Classic (3 to 3.25 inches). This allows you to perfectly match the tie to your specific suit lapel.

The Knottery

The Knottery usually sticks to a standard, classic width of roughly 3 inches. This is the “Goldilocks” width that looks good on almost everyone and won’t go out of style, but you lack the extreme customization of The Tie Bar.

Winner: The Tie Bar. The ability to choose the exact width of the blade is a massive advantage for men with highly specific tailoring needs.

4. The Shopping Experience and Reliability

• The Tie Bar: They are a massive, perfectly oiled e-commerce machine. Their shipping is lightning fast, their customer service is excellent, and they now have physical retail stores in major cities. If you need a tie by Thursday for a wedding on Friday, The Tie Bar will get it to you.
• The Knottery: As a smaller, boutique operation, they have historically struggled with stock issues. When a popular tie sells out, it might be gone for months. Their shipping is reliable, but they cannot compete with the Amazon-like efficiency of The Tie Bar.

The Final Verdict

So, where should you spend your $25?

Choose The Tie Bar if: You are a groom trying to exactly match the color of your groomsmen’s ties to the bridesmaid dresses, you need a highly specific width, or you need reliable, fast shipping. For basic, solid-colored silk knit ties, they are unbeatable.

Choose The Knottery if: You care deeply about the drape and the interlining of the tie, you prefer heavy, textured fabrics (like wool, linen, and raw silk), and you want a $25 tie that genuinely looks and ties like a $100 tie.

For the average guy who just needs a tie for a wedding, The Tie Bar is the safest bet. But for the menswear enthusiast who obsesses over the perfect knot dimple, The Knottery is the clear winner.