Cravat; Sartorial Style or Just Another Fad?
I’d been aware of cravats for a long while, but only as something an aesthete might have worn in the 17th or 18th century. It never occurred to me that such ostentatious and old fashioned a style-statement could ever make a re-appearance.
That was until I inherited a brightly coloured silk cravat from my father. I don’t ever remember seeing him wear it and I have no idea from where he may have obtained it. Nevertheless, it came into my possession, was put into a drawer — together with other unlikely-to-be-worn garments — and forgotten about.
I rediscovered my stash of aesthete-wear only recently and had the irresistible urge to try and tie that long forgotten cravat around my neck. It hung there for several minutes before I realised I had no idea how it should be tied! It would have been easy to have shrugged, dragged the pleated silk from my neck and stuffed it back in the drawer.
I am now so glad I didn’t! I made the decision to do a little research and see if I could discover more about the cravat, not least how to tie it and see what it looked like around my own neck.
As with so many other quests for information, YouTube proved invaluable, and it wasn’t long before I discovered that there are several ways to knot a cravat. I discovered the one that tied well — not too tight, not too loose and that didn’t become undone during the course of the day. I was well and truly hooked!
I was given, as a birthday present last year, another cravat. A different colour, different pattern and a different size to the one I already owned, but it was still a pleated, silk cravat…..and I love it!
I almost always now wear one or the other and am amused by the looks and/or comments I get from other people. Most seem pleasantly amused by an item of clothing they may not have seen being worn before. I am amused when I get the odd double glance and barely disguised smirk into a raised hand. I had been noticed!
I’ve now become so attached to the idea of wearing a cravat that I intend to widen the selection I have available. I’m sure I’ll drop hints when someone asks what I might like as a present and I’ve already started to browse through the advertisements on Facebook Market Place and Vinted.
A quick internet search will provide anyone who needs to know as much about the history of cravats as they want. It came as a surprise to me that it dates back to the 17 century and Croatian mercenaries who used a sort of scarf as part of their uniform.
Apparently, King Louis XIII — who engaged the Croatians during the Thirty Years War — liked their scarf and adopted it, giving it the name ‘La Cravate’ after the French for Croat.
My new-found interest has spawned another, not unrelated, interest. I will soon have a need for an item of formal dress, in that I will require a bow-tie.
It would be too easy to purchase a pre-tied elasticated dickie-bow and make do. Though having learned the many ways I can tie a cravat, taking such an easy way out would suggest a failure on my part. No, I shall buy a self-tie dickie!
The afore-mentioned occasion will require a black bow-tie, but I’m not going to stop there! If I can learn to tie a dickie — notoriously difficult, I’ve been told (by those that have failed, no doubt) — I will, just as with cravats, start a collection!
The bow-tie has a history not dissimilar to that of the cravat and the modern neck tie. It seems that the differences in length, shape and manufacture resulted in the various ways of tying each one.
I’m never going to claim to be a modern day Beau Brummel — the Regency dandy, friend of George, (the then Prince of Wales) and arbiter of all things related to upper class fashion in the late 18th/early 19th century. I can’t afford to take five hours dressing each day as he was reported to do, but I do like the idea of being just that little bit different in my appearance.
Having decided I must wear a cravat — and later a self tied bow-tie — I needed to find out how to tie one. It turns out to be extraordinarily……easy!
Cross a slightly longer end — having draped the cravat around the neck — over the shorter.
Pass the longer end under the shorter.
Wrap it over the shorter end and back under.
Pass it up from behind the developing knot and between it and the neck.
Tuck it down, through the knot and then adjust to suit!
Easy!
Believe me, it is!…..once you’ve tried it a few times! If you don’t believe me, do a quick YouTube search.
Now for the bow-tie…..
