Historians attribute the
first instance of neckwear to ancient China.
In 1974 archeologists unearthed a massive dig of terracotta warriors
buried in Qin Shih Huang, the emperor who died in 2010 BC. Before he died, he wanted his army to be
buried with him, as a guardian of his soul during its transition into the
afterlife. He wanted to bury his
soldiers alive with him but luckily his advisors talked him into creating terra
cotta replicas instead. When found by
Westerns in 1974, the terra cotta warriors all wore a wrapped neck cloth. There’s no other record of anyone else in
China wearing these so they’re though to be a distinct garment worn only by the
Emperor’s army – and the first neckties.
They were also seen in
ancient Rome in Trajan’s column from 98 to 117 AD, with thousands of soldiers
wearing neckwear otherwise unseen in Italy.
However, most people
attribute the modern birth of the necktie to France during the 17th
century. In the midst of the 30 Year
War, King Louis XIII hired Croatian mercenaries to help him fight the English. The Croats all wore a piece of cloth around
their necks to help them keep their uniform jackets closed. King Louis admired the look so much that he
required everyone to wear one at royal gatherings. To pay tribute to the Croats he named the
neckwear “La Cravate” which is still the French word for neckties.
After the war was over in
1660, the cravat came back to England as Charles II reclaimed the throne. The cravat became the fashion of aristocrats
and the elite, and the trend spread over Europe and also to the English
colonies. No longer did it just look
like the Croatians wore it, but now could consist of ruffled collars, ribbons,
linen, cotton, tasseled strings, or even lace.
In 1715, a spinoff of
neckwear appeared, a leather collar with lace at the back called “stocks.” It was popular among soldiers because it kept
their heads high and offered some protection against bayonets.
In the 18th century, the fashion
movement spread to all men no matter what level of society or wealth they
belonged to. By the end of the century,
wearing a cravat in black was considered the apex of fashion. General Sherman can be seen wearing a leather
stock in some Civil War era photographs.
The traditional Cravate made
a resurgence all over Europe, donned by a new class of young men who called the
macaronis (named in the song Yankee Doodle) who had come back from Europe with
new fashion sense.
By 1815, the French Emperor
Napolean Bonaparte wore a white cravat against his black attire during the
battle of Waterloo. History books tell
us he did so to honor the Duke of Wellington who always wore white into
battle. Around this time people started
calling cravats “ties” after the practice of tying them around their necks.
As ties took off, the rage
became tying them in interesting ways.
There were even books written about different knots; The Neckclothitania
was a satire published in 1818 about tying ties. A more serious volume was released in 1828 by
H. Le Blanc, The Art of Tying the Cravat.
The world changed
dramatically with Industrial Revolution and so did the acceptance of the
tie. In fact the term “White Collar”
workers comes from the dress of a new class of businessmen who left the gritty
manual labor for the lower classes, who also wore ties.
In 1880, the Oxford
University rowing team had the first school tie and the practice spread
quickly. Over the next decade, the
standard tie had some competition with the fancier ascot. It was the favorite of Britain’s King Edward
VII, who wore it to the horse races and who was emulated by his subjects.
But by 1910, the popularity
of ascots started to fade as fashion became more casual and bow ties were
reserved for “White tie attire” events.
The fashion sense of ties
changed dramatically in the early 1920’s when a New York City tailor by the
name of Jessie Langsdorf invented a brand new way of cutting the fabric for
ties, allowing it to stay in shape after use.
His ingenunity opened the door for new knots for ties became the most
popular neckwear, the bow tie now being reserved for black tie functions (like
with a tuxedo.)
In the 1930’s ties became
wider and were printed in bold patterns and art deco designs. They hung well shorter than our current tie
length because pants were worn near the belly button, not on the hips, and men
also wore vests that covered up the bottom of the tie. They were still usually tied with a Windsor
knot, named after the Duke of Windsor.
Of course during World War
II fashion wasn’t exactly a priority for the country, but one it was over and
troops returned home they donned reinvigorated neckties with strong patterns
and colors. But post war, men wanted
celebration, not military uniformity, so the vibrance of America society
reached fashion as ties grew wider in what was coined the Bold Look and art
deco motifs included hunting scenes, floral patterns, photographs, and
Cuban/Miami “tropicalism.”
The pendulum of taste swung
back to conservatism in the 1950s, the “Mad Men” decade where skinny ties and
flat patterns were most common, though bright colors were still in vogue. Branded the “Mister T” look by Esquire, the
ties were longer once again as belt height dropped and tapered suits and slim
lapels were the look of the day. As the
calendar turned to 1960 and then 1961, these skinny ties reached the epicenter
of the “IBM/Men in Black” look with widths as small as 1” and colors usually
dark and uniform.
Later in the 1960’s, fashion
went haywire with psychedelic bad taste and Pop influence, with ties followed
suit. The Kipper tie became popular, a
clownish 6” wide short time with outrageous swirls of color named after
designer Michael Fish at Turnbull & Asser.
The 1970’s saw no relief from these faux pas as the Disco era ushered in
stranger Kipper ties and new fabrics with plenty of shiny things. Interestingly, the Bolo Tie (Western tie)
emerged around this time in Arizona, and it even became Arizona’s official
state necktie in 1971.
From the frying pan of the
60’s and 70’s we jumped into the fire of the 1980’s with an explosion of
options - everything from Kipper ties to skinny ties and bright pastel colors
to dynamic plaids. Novelty, or kitschy
ties were considered avante guard, with Pop art images like fish or strawberries
rendered on ties, and faux-materials like fake plastic or wood grain images
catching popularity. Ties also grew in
length to 57 inches as men wore their pants lower, still.
It wasn’t until the 1990’s
that ties took a step back toward business fashion, with widths becoming
uniform at 3.75 to 4 inches and plenty of bold yet uniform striped and paisley
patterns. In the first decade of the 21st
century the standard tie thinned out by about a quarter inch and more European
designs and influences came in.
In the last three years
we’ve seen ties get even skinner with more influence from Italy and France,
with a range from 3.5 inches to skinny ties again at 1.5-2” and everything in
between. There’s a mix of old-world
tradition mixed with varying fabrics, bold prints, paisleys, and dynamic
splashes of color. The rules have all
been broken and we’ve adopted the best looks for neckwear from the past
century. Anything goes in ties these
days – as long as it looks good!
