The cravat () is a neckband, the forerunner of the modern tailored
necktie
A necktie, long tie, or simply a tie, is a cloth article of formal neckwear or office attire worn for decorative or symbolic purposes, resting under a folded shirt collar or knotted at the throat, and usually draped down the chest. On rare o ...
and
bow tie
The bow tie or dicky bow is a type of neckwear, distinguishable from a necktie because it does not drape down the shirt placket, but is tied just underneath a winged collar. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also ...
, originating from a style worn by members of the 17th century military unit known as
the Cravats. The
modern British "cravat" is called an "ascot" in
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
.
From the end of the 16th century, the term ''band'' applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a
ruff Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader famil ...
. The ruff, a starched, pleated white
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...
strip, originated earlier in the 16th century as a neckcloth (readily changeable, to minimize the soiling of a
doublet), as a
bib, or as a
napkin
A napkin, serviette or face towelette is a square of cloth or paper tissue used at the table for wiping the mouth and fingers while eating. It is also sometimes used as a bib by tucking it into a shirt collar. It is usually small and folded, s ...
. A band could be either a plain, attached shirt
collar or a detachable "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar. It is possible that initially, cravats were worn to hide soil on shirts.
History

According to 1828 encyclopedic ''The art of tying the cravat: demonstrated in sixteen lessons'', the Romans were the first to wear knotted kerchiefs around their necks, but the modern version of the cravat (French: ''la cravate'') originated in the 1660s. During the Thirty Years' War, King
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, enlisted
Croatian mercenaries known for wearing a necktie called a ''tour de cou''.
[ (reprinted as ).] The traditional Croat military kit aroused
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
ian curiosity
[ about the unusual, picturesque scarves distinctively knotted at the Croats' necks:
''In 1660 a regiment of Croats arrived in France — a part of their singular costume excited the greatest admiration, and was immediately and generally imitated; this was a tour de cou, made (for the private soldiers) of common lace, and of muslin or silk for the officers; the ends were arranged en rosette, or ornamented with a button or tuft, which hung gracefully on the breast. This new arrangement, which confined the throat but very slightly, was at first termed a Croat, since corrupted to Cravat. The Cravats of the officers and people of rank were extremely fine, and the ends were embroidered or trimmed with broad lace; those for the lower classes were subsequently made of cloth or cotton, or at the best of black taffeta, plaited: Which was tied round the neck by two small strings.''][
Often the ]Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
poet Ivan Gundulić is credited with the invention of the cravat, due to a portrait hanging in the Rector's Palace, Dubrovnik. The scholar depicted in the painting looks very much like the frontispiece to his ''Osman'' published in 1844. However, considering the hairstyle, this portrait is more probably a later portrait of his namesake Dživo (Ivan) Šiškov Gundulić, also a Dubrovnik poet. In their honor, Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
celebrates Cravat Day on October 18.
File:De Gondola.jpg, ''Portrait of Ivan Gundulić'' (1622–1630)
File:Ivan Gundulic - Osman frontispiece (1844) dielaivanagundu00gundgoog 0008.jpg, Frontispiece for ''Osman'', 1844
File:Neckcloth.JPG, A Regency
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
-style neckcloth tied in a bow on a Grafton collar
File:Neckclothitania-1818.gif, This image from the 1818 ''Neckclothitania'' shows what 14 different cravat knots look like, but includes no instructions on how to tie them.
On returning to England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
from exile in 1660, Charles II imported 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.]
During the wars of Louis XIV of 1689–1697, except for court, the flowing cravat was replaced with the more current, and equally military, "Steinkirk", named after the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692. The Steinkirk 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, either of the coat or the waistcoat. It was designed to be worn in deliberate disarray. The fashion apparently began after troops at the Battle of Steenkerque had no time to tie their cravats properly before going into action. The Steinkirk was popular with men and women until the 1720s. Colley Cibber's play '' The Careless Husband'' (1704) had a famous Steinkirk Scene.
The maccaronis reintroduced the flowing cravat in the 1770s, and the manner of a man's knotting became indicative of his taste and style, to the extent that after the Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
(1815) the cravat began to be referred to as a " tie".
Gallery
File:Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh and 2. marquess of Londonderry.jpg, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Kingdom of Ireland, Ir ...
, wearing a cravat
File:George Chinnery - An Unknown Man - Google Art Project.jpg, An unknown man wearing a cravat in the early 19th century
File:Gilbert Stuart - Colonel Isaac Barre - Google Art Project.jpg, Colonel Isaac Barre wearing a cravat in the mid-18th century
File:Thomas Tooke.jpg, Thomas Tooke wearing a cravat in the late 18th century
File:Richard Cosway by Richard Cosway.jpg, Richard Cosway
Richard Cosway (5 November 1742 – 4 July 1821) was a leading English portrait painter of the Georgian and Regency era, noted for his miniatures. He was a contemporary of John Smart, George Engleheart, William Wood, and Richard Cross ...
, the Macaroni Artist
See also
* Cravat Regiment
* Pussy bow
References
Sources
*
External links
*
* (reprinted as ).
{{Clothing
17th-century fashion
Neckties
17th-century introductions