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2 Modern Neckties 3 See also 4 External links |
A cravat is the neckband that was the forerunner of the modern tailored necktie. From the end of the 16th century the term "band" applied to any long strip of cloth worn round the neck that was not a "ruff." The ruff itself had started its career in the earlier 16th century as a starched and pleated strip of white linen that could be freshly changed to keep the neck of a doublet from getting increasingly grimy. A "band" could indicate a plain attached shirt collar or a detached "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar.
The "cravat" originated in the 1630s. Like most male fashions between the 17th century and World War I, it had a military origin. The word comes from the French cravate, (a corruption of "Croat" ), the name given by the French in the reign of Louis XIII, ca 1635, to the scarf worn by the Croatian mercenary troops enlisted in a regiment that supported Louis XIII and Richelieu against the Duc de Guise and the Queen Mother,Marie de Medici. The traditional outfit of these Croats aroused curiosity in Paris on account of the unusual and picturesque scarves distinctively tied about their necks. The scarves were made of various cloths, ranging from coarse material for common soldiers, to fine linen and silk for officers. The French were quite ready to give up the starched linen ruffs, supported on wires, that they had been wearing.
Made of linen or muslin with broad edges of lace, the new loose cravate became fashionable, and the name was applied both in England and France to various forms of neck cloth.
On his return to England from exile in 1660, Charles II brought with him this new word in fashion:
Cravat
A gentleman's cravat would be made of fine lace. Grinling Gibbons the famous carver and sculptor, made a highly realistic one, carved out of a piece of white limewood.
The universal fashion spread to the colonies across the Atlantic.
During the wars of Louis XIV of 1689 - 1697, the flowing cravat was replaced, except for court occasions, by the more current and equally military Steinkirk, named for the battle in Flanders of 1692. The Steinkirk was a long narrow, plain or lightly trimmed neckcloth worn with military dress, wrapped just once about the neck in a loose knot, with a lace of fringed ends that were twisted together and tucked out of the way into the button-hole (of either a coat or a waistcoat) The steinkirk proved to be popular with both men and women until the 1720s.
The Macaronis reintroduced the flowing cravat in the 1770s and the manner of tying one became a matter of personal taste and style, to the extent that after Waterloo, the neckwear itself was increasingly referred to a a "tie."
Today, neckties are part of the formal clothing of males in both Western and non-Western societies, particularly in business. Generally it is a thick swath made from silk or cotton, and is tied around the collar with various knots, such as the Windsor knot. They have also found their way into the outfits of fashionably trail blazing females.Modern Neckties
Vaudeville character actor with tie
