necktie, worn here with the top shirt button unbuttoned.
The necktie (or tie) is a long piece of cloth worn around the
neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. The modern
necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Men and, less frequently, women
wear neckties as part of regular office attire or formal wear. Neckties can also be worn as part of a
uniform (e.g. military, school,
waitstaff).
Variants include the bow tie, ascot tie, bola tie, and the clip-on tie.
History
king Louis XIV
with an early cravat in 1667
neckware as painted by Charles Peale in 1791.
Tyler with a scarf (?)
The necktie can be traced back to the time of the Thirty Years' War
(1618-1648) when Croatian mercenaries in
French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused
the interest of the Parisians.[1] The new
article of clothing 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.
