The history and evolution of neckwear and the necktie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] The Beginning
The history of neckwear can be traced back to China in the tomb of The first Emperor of china, Ch’in Shi Huang-Ti. All of the terracotta warriors uncovered wore wore neckerchiefs. The mordern necktie however, can be traced back to the Thirty Year War, which was fought from 1618 to 1648. There were many Croatian horsemen fighting for the French and they wore small, knotted neckerchiefs. That started a fashion craze in Europe where both men and women wore pieces of fabric around their necks. In the late seventeenth century, the men wore lace cravats that took a large amount of time and effort to arrange. These cravats were often tied in place by cravat strings, arranged neatly and tied in a bow.
[edit] 1650 – 1720 The Steinkirk
Near the end of the seventeenth century, The battle of Steinkirk took place in 1692. In this battle, the princes, while hurriedly dressing for battle, just wound these cravats around their necks. They twisted the ends of the fabric together and passed the twisted ends through a jacket buttonhole. These cravats were generally referred to as Steinkirks.
[edit] 1720-1800 - Stocks, Solitaires, Neckcloths, Cravats
In 1715, another kind of neckwear, made its appearance, Stocks were initially just a small piece of muslin folded into a narrow band wound a few times round the shirt collar and secured from behind with a pin. It was fashionable for the men to wear their hair long, past shoulder length. The ends were tucked into a black silk bag worn at the nape of the neck. This was known as the bag-wig hairstyle and the neckwear worn with it was, the stock.
A variation of the bag wig would be the solitaire. This form had matching ribbons stitched around the bag. After the stock was in place, the ribbons would be brought forward and tied in a large bow in front of the wearer.
Sometime in the late eighteenth century, Cravats began to make an appearance again. This can be attributed to a group of young men called the Macaronis (of Yankee Doodle fame). These were young Englishmen who returned from Europe and brought with them new ideas about fashion from Italy. The French contemporaries of the Macronis were the Incroyables.
[edit] 1800-1850 – Cravat, Stocks, Scarves, Bandannas
At this time, there was also much interest in the way to tie a proper cravat and this led to a series of publications. This began with Neckclothitania, which is a book that contained instructions and illustrations on how to tie 14 different cravats. It was also the first book to use the word ‘tie’ in association with neckwear.
It was about this time that black stocks made their appearance. Their popularity eclipsed the white Cravat, except for formal and evening wear. These remained popular through to the 1850s. At this time, another form of neckwear worn was the scarf. This was where a neckerchief or bandanna was held in place by slipping the ends through a finger or scarf ring at the neck instead of using a knot. This is the classic sailor neckwear and may have been adopted from them.
[edit] 1860 – 1920s – Bow ties, Scarf/Neckerchief, the Ascot, the Long tie
When the industrial revolution occurred, there was a sudden need for neckwear that was easy to put on, comfortable and would last an entire workday. The modern necktie, as is still worn by millions of men today, was born. It was long, thin and easy to knot and it didn’t come undone.
The English called it the “four in hand” because the knot resembled the reins of the four horse carriage used by the British upper class. By this time, the sometimes complicated array of knots and styles of neckwear gave way to the neckties and bowties, the latter a much smaller, more convenient version of the cravat. In formal dinner parties and when attending races, another type of neckwear was considered de rigueur, this was the Ascot tie. Which had wide flaps that were crossed and pinned together on the chest.
This was until a New York tie maker, Jesse Langsdorf came up with a method of cutting the fabric on the bias and sewing it in three segments. This technique improved elasticity and facilitated the fabrics return to its original shape. Since that time, most men have worn the “Langsdorf” tie. Yet another development of that time was the method used to secure the lining and interlining once the tie had been folded into shape. Richard Atkinson and Company of Belfast claim to have introduced the slipstitch for this purpose in the late 1920s.
[edit] 1920s- Present Day
After the Second World War, hand painted ties became an accepted form of decoration in America. The widths of some of these ties went up to 4.5 inches. These Loud flamboyant ties sold very well all the way through the 1950s.
On the other side of the pond, Regimental stripes have been continuously used in tie designs since the 1920s. Traditionally, English stripes ran from the left shoulder down to the right side, however, a century ago, when Brooks brothers introduced the striped ties in the States, they had theirs cut in the opposite direction.
The 1960s brought about an influx of pop-art influenced designs. The first was designed by Michael fish when he worked at Turnbull and Asser. The term kipper, was a pun on his name.The exuberance of the styles of the late 1960s and early 1970s gradually gave way to more restrained designs. Ties became narrower, returning to their 2-3 inch width with subdued colors and motifs, traditional designs of the 1930s and 1950s reappeared, particularly Paisley patterns. Ties began to be sold along with shirts and designers slowly began to experiment with bolder colors.
This grew till the 1980s and 1990s where there developed a taste for increasingly unusual designs. There was an increased number of deliberately kitsch designs and joke ties. These ties were often made of plastic or even wood and were more statement pieces than fashion.
While there was an increased in novelty ties, there was an increased demand for ties of quality. In 1989, California label Robert Talbott is among the first of the top labels to bring back seven fold ties. Which is the ultimate in luxury ties. The market for ties is better than ever, especially for good quality ties. One thing stays the same, a well dressed man in a well fitting shirt and matching tie will always be in fashion.
