Necktie For Men
The necktie (or tie) is a long piece of woven or knitted material worn around the neck, under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat with the blades resting on the shirt front. The modern necktie, ascot and bow tie, are descended from the cravat. Ties are mainly worn by men as a regular part of office attire, formal wear or uniform. A few women also wear ties as part of a uniform (e.g. military, school), office attire or as a fashion accessory.
A cravat is the neckband forerunner of the modern, tailored necktie. From the end of the 16th century, the term "band" applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a "ruff"; the ruff—a starched, pleated white linen strip—started its fashion career earlier in the 16th century as neckcloth that could be changed-a-fresh to keep the neck of a doublet from becoming too-soiled or as a bib or a napkin. A "band" could indicate a plain, attached shirt collar or a detachable "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar.
The modern cravat originated in the 1630s. Like most men's fashions between the 17th century and World War I, it had a military origin. In the reign of Louis XIII of France, Croatian mercenaries were enlisted to a regiment supporting the King and Cardinal Richelieu against the Duc de Guise and the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici. The traditional military kit of the Croats aroused parisian curiosity in and about the unusual, picturesque scarves distinctively knotted about their necks. The scarves were made of cloths ranging from the coarse-finish material of common soldiers, to the fine linens and silks of the officers' cravats. The word "cravat" derives from the French cravate; many sources state it is a French corruption of "Croat"—Croatian "Hrvat"—however evidence shows the word use in 14th century France and in 16th century Italy. In a ballad, French writer Eustache Deschamps (c. 1340–1407), wrote the phrase "faites restraindre sa cravate" ("pull his cravat tighter").
Considering the interdependency of many European regions (particularly the French) with the Venetian Empire, and that said empire once occupied most of Croatian coast, cross-culturalization would not be unprecedented. Whatever the word's origin, the new element of male dress became known as a cravate and the French quite readily surrendered the starched linen ruff and adopted the new neck fashion of loose cravates of linen or muslin with broad lace edges.
On returning to England from exile, in 1660, Charles II took back with him the latest, new word in fashion:
"A cravatte is another kind of adornment for the neck being nothing else but a long towel put about the Collar, and so tyed before with a Bow Knott; this is the original of all such Wearings; but now by the Art and Inventions of the seamsters, there is so many new ways of making them, that it would be a task to name, much more to describe them". (Randle Holme, Academy of Armory and Blazon, 1688.
A gentleman's cravat would be made of fine lace. Grinling Gibbonsthe famous carver and sculptor, carved a realistic cravat from white limewood.
During the wars of Louis XIV of 1689–1697, except for court occasions, the flowing cravat was replaced with the more current and equally military "Stein***k", named for the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692. The Stein***k was a long, narrow, plain or lightly trimmed neckcloth worn with military dress, wrapped once about the neck in a loose knot, with the lace of fringed ends twisted together and tucked out of the way into a button-hole (coat or waistcoat). The stein***k proved popular with both men and women until the 1720s.
The macaronis reintroduced the flowing cravat in the 1770s, and the manner of a man's knotting it became indicative of his personal taste and sense of style, to such extent that after Waterloo (1815) the neckwear itself was referred to as a "tie".
A cravat is the neckband forerunner of the modern, tailored necktie. From the end of the 16th century, the term "band" applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a "ruff"; the ruff—a starched, pleated white linen strip—started its fashion career earlier in the 16th century as neckcloth that could be changed-a-fresh to keep the neck of a doublet from becoming too-soiled or as a bib or a napkin. A "band" could indicate a plain, attached shirt collar or a detachable "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar.
The modern cravat originated in the 1630s. Like most men's fashions between the 17th century and World War I, it had a military origin. In the reign of Louis XIII of France, Croatian mercenaries were enlisted to a regiment supporting the King and Cardinal Richelieu against the Duc de Guise and the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici. The traditional military kit of the Croats aroused parisian curiosity in and about the unusual, picturesque scarves distinctively knotted about their necks. The scarves were made of cloths ranging from the coarse-finish material of common soldiers, to the fine linens and silks of the officers' cravats. The word "cravat" derives from the French cravate; many sources state it is a French corruption of "Croat"—Croatian "Hrvat"—however evidence shows the word use in 14th century France and in 16th century Italy. In a ballad, French writer Eustache Deschamps (c. 1340–1407), wrote the phrase "faites restraindre sa cravate" ("pull his cravat tighter").
Considering the interdependency of many European regions (particularly the French) with the Venetian Empire, and that said empire once occupied most of Croatian coast, cross-culturalization would not be unprecedented. Whatever the word's origin, the new element of male dress became known as a cravate and the French quite readily surrendered the starched linen ruff and adopted the new neck fashion of loose cravates of linen or muslin with broad lace edges.
On returning to England from exile, in 1660, Charles II took back with him the latest, new word in fashion:
"A cravatte is another kind of adornment for the neck being nothing else but a long towel put about the Collar, and so tyed before with a Bow Knott; this is the original of all such Wearings; but now by the Art and Inventions of the seamsters, there is so many new ways of making them, that it would be a task to name, much more to describe them". (Randle Holme, Academy of Armory and Blazon, 1688.
A gentleman's cravat would be made of fine lace. Grinling Gibbonsthe famous carver and sculptor, carved a realistic cravat from white limewood.
During the wars of Louis XIV of 1689–1697, except for court occasions, the flowing cravat was replaced with the more current and equally military "Stein***k", named for the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692. The Stein***k was a long, narrow, plain or lightly trimmed neckcloth worn with military dress, wrapped once about the neck in a loose knot, with the lace of fringed ends twisted together and tucked out of the way into a button-hole (coat or waistcoat). The stein***k proved popular with both men and women until the 1720s.
The macaronis reintroduced the flowing cravat in the 1770s, and the manner of a man's knotting it became indicative of his personal taste and sense of style, to such extent that after Waterloo (1815) the neckwear itself was referred to as a "tie".
Comment