Necktie: A fashion accessory with a twisted history
Your father has an important presentation to make in front of a European delegation. What do you think he would wear? Most likely a suit and of course a necktie, right? A necktie is an important piece of men’s attire to make a formal statement today, be it an official meeting or a wedding function. But have you ever wondered where this little piece of clothing came from? How has it evolved over the years? Why has this apparently useless accessory survived the swings of fashion for many centuries? We will take it up one by one for you.
Born as cravats
First of all, when did they come into place? Were they originally invented as neckties like they are today? No, actually they originated in the mid-17th century as strips of cloth that became known as cravats. Croatian mercenaries, hired in Paris by the then French King Louis XIV, wore cloth bands around their necks to ward off any danger to their necks such as sword slashes. This soon became a new clothing accessory, and, voila, the cravate was born. The term ‘cravate’ is derived from ‘Croates’, meaning Croatian in French. Not wanting to be left behind, the English adapted the cravat, dropping the final "e". What did these cravats look like? Well, they looked somewhat like lace bibs tied in front!
The emergence of variants
With time more cravat varieties emerged with varying lengths and styles. During the early 18th century and into the 19th century, cravats had one major competition: Stock. The shape and cut differed greatly though. Instead of a long piece of cloth wound around the neck and tied in front, the stock resembled collars that you wear today in case of neck injuries. These collars were made of muslin, sometimes with cardboard stiffeners inside. They were fastened in the back by a hook or a knot. Imagine those men with stocks standing upright in a stiff posture!
From black and white to colours
Colours also changed with the passing time. In the earlier centuries, the colour of the neckpiece was mainly limited to black and white, black for daytime wear and white for formal occasions. By the mid-19th century, the defining statement changed. White was considered traditional and black revolutionary. By the end of the century, both colours and fabrics began to proliferate. Gray, pale blues and lavenders were also in supply as did the different varieties of fabrics such as silks and satins etc.
Modern four-in-hand makes a debut
Cut to the the 1870s and the modern "four-in-hand" emerged. When the great British novelist Charles Dickens wore a turned-down collar with a loose, unknotted cravat held by a seal ring for his lectures during his US tour in 1867, he created a kind of fashion sensation. What he wore was more like an ancestor of the "four-in-hand" modern tie.
In the early 1900s, black ties with dinner jackets were popularised by King Edward VII, the King of the United Kingdom. Slowly, the four-in-hand knot started becoming popular everywhere, especially in the military and at colleges.
However, the tie landscape remained more or less the same until the early 1920s when a tie maker in New York named Jesse Langsdorf patented a new way of cutting fabric on an angle and then sewing it in three segments to create Langsdorf Necktie. This is the necktie we know today. After this, people started to develop different ways to tie neckties. They came in varying lengths, bizarre fabrics and astounding styles but they have always been in style.