Have you ever thought of the origin of a necktie? No? Well then, you've come to the right place where you could get to know a little bit more about where it all began.
Did you know that neckties or, originally,
cravates were probably used to prevent clothes from getting dirty? Initially just a plain strip of material, they were used by Croatian mercenaries supporting Louis XIII of France against the Duc de Guise and the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici. The military kit that the Croatians were using during that time was an inspiration for curious Parisians to start using them as a fashion accassories. The word itself,
cravat, comes from the misspelt word
Croat (originally
Hr̀vāt in Croatian).
 |
| Cravat-tying illustrations fragment (by G.
Cruikshank) from "Neckclothitania or Tietania, being an essay on Starchers, by One of the
Cloth" (published by J.J.Stockdale, Sept. 1st. 1818). |
The English equivalent of cravat,
necktie, also has an interesting history. Breaking the word in two, let's look at the parts we have -
neck and
tie. The true origin of the "neck" word is unknown, yet it is assumed that it may come from Proto-Indo-European word
knok meaning "high point" or "ridge". The traces of the word can be also found in Old Irish
cnocc, Welsh
cnwch and Old Bretonian
cnoch meaning "hill".
Digging into the history of the second word,
tie, you'll find that it may come from Old Norse
tygill, meaning "string" or Old English
teon, meaning "to draw, pull, drag;"
The usage of word
necktie in the sense we use it today was first recorded in 1761.
But what happened later? Click the button to read after the fold.
