How ties came about...

Did you know that the tie you wear everyday was actually worn centuries ago. I always thought ties were a modern concept, something worn with a formal shirt and stuff.

But in the Victorian era? You must be wondering what I am talking about. Sure you have never seen anyone wearing a tie in all those ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘The Man in The Iron Mask’ movies. But those frilly things they wore around their necks. They were the cravats - ties of those days. By those days I mean around 1660 give or take a few years. This period followed the infamous Thirty Year War. Historians say that our ties came from those cravats.

Supposedly, Croatian soldiers wore those cravats to wipe their faces of sweat. Maybe those cloths were even used to wipe off blood or to bandage wounds. Later, when the French king Louis saw them, he was pretty impressed. He started using the cravats for style and soon even his subjects began to use them. I am calling those things cravats but they were not called cravats then. That name came later, maybe influenced from the word Croats only. Hey, I came across this link where they have given almost the entire history of a tie in details. We will explore more about ties in the next post. Until then enjoy!