What is the origin of the neck-tie?

Answer 1

This could possibly be modern day Croatia, known as 'Hrvatska' in Croat. Hrvastka, or more precisely 'Hrvat' is the etymology of the moden English word 'cravat' which is a necktie. Hrvat is Serbo-Croat, which became the croat 'Krabate' through to French 'Cravate' and into English. Incidentially, 'Hrvatska' means 'land of the necktie' and comes from the Croatian mercanaries in the French Army(hence the rather dramatic move from Croat striaght into French). The Croat people are also known as 'Cravate' in French, still a link to the mercenaries ofthe period 1645-1665.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF NECKTIES

The necktie has its jump-start into fashion 333 years prior to the new Millennium. A King, a war, an usual army with an unusual dress and a noble cause and that no less set the stage for a fashion accessory that lives on to this day. "There is a clear-cut relationship between fashion on one hand, and power and wealth on the other. Fashion generally follows power and wealth." This old adage spells out the creation of the evolution on neckwear not its origin. However, without this acceptance of tying cloth around a man's neck in the 17th century, neckties would not have had their fateful way in the world.

Neckties were an unusual thought as a fashion accessory in China in 221 B.C., the first known existence of fabric wrapping a man's neck. In the Neckwear industry this is an interestingly known fact, as a result of the excavation in China of the "Terracotta Army of the first Emperor of China" in 1970 - Among the 7000 terracotta soldiers un-earthed dressed in armor, many of which had a necktie wrapping their necks. The use of neckwear in China ended after the Han Dynasty took rule and neckwear would not be seen again in China until the 20th century. In 101 - 106 B.C. the Roman Military is seen in paintings with neckwear worn as a random uniform. Although non-Roman soldiers were probably the only to wear at "necktie" as it is common thought that the fashion rule of Rome kept necks free of cloth.

For more complete history of the neckties, from the Roman soldiers to King Louis XIV of France to Napoleon, visit this website http://www.abcneckties.com/necktiehistory.html.

Hope this helps. Goodluck!

Answer 3

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 linenstrip — started its fashion career earlier in the 16th century as neckcloth that could be changed-a-fresh to keep the neck of a doubletfrom 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 "Steinkirk", named for 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 (coat or waistcoat). The steinkirk 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 a indicative of his personal taste and sense of style, to such extent that, after Waterloo, the neckwear, itself, was referred to as a "tie".

Answer 4

George Bryan Brummell (born June 7, 1778, London, England – died March 30, 1840, Caen, France), better known as Beau Brummell, was an arbiter of fashion in Regency England and a friend of the Prince Regent. He led the trend for men to wear understated, but beautifully cut clothes, adorned with elaborately knotted neckwear. Brummell is credited with introducing and bringing to fashion the modern man's suit worn with necktie; the suit is now worn throughout the world for business and formal occasions. He claimed to take five hours to dress, and recommended that boots be polished with champagne. His style of dress came to be known as dandyism.