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One of the most visible, and most peculiar, accessories of Euro-American men's business attire is the necktie. Because of its ability to draw attention to the face, neckwear has always enjoyed a prominent place in fashion history. The necktie in particular has an ancient and interesting history that continues to this day.

A few of the earliest forms of the necktie are the band, the stock, the steinkirk and the cravat. The band appeared early in the 17th century and referred rather generally to any type of neckwear that was not a ruff (that stiff, lacy collar worn by men and women in the 16th century that bears a remarkable resemblance to an automotive air filter). The band was a detachable collar usually made of stiff white linen. According to Hart (1998), both the band and the shirt to which it was attached helped to protect doublets from being soiled. (The doublet was originally a men's military garment worn over the chest and under chainmail; it was later was adopted by civilian men.) Doublets were made of expensive silks, velvets and brocades; the linen shirts and shirt collars worn underneath them helped to protect the expensive doublet from body oils, sweat and dirt. Bands made of lace were quite expensive and required great care.

In the 1650s styles began to change and the band became softer and more draped at the front, and evolved into what was known as the cravat (cravatte, incidentally, is the French word for tie). The cravat's inspiration sprang from the brightly-colored and loose-fitting neckscarves worn by Croatian soldiers hired as mercenaries by Louis XIII during the Thirty Years' War (which ended in 1648). The Croatian neckscarf was more practical than the starched, hard-to-clean linen bands worn by the French. Binder (1958: 279) suggests that Croatian soldiers may also have worn them for spiritual protection:

...[T]he close military throat-wrapping of the late seventeenth and eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (wrapping at last so tightly drawn that both officers and privates regularly fainted during manoeuvers) was tenaciously retained by soldiers throughout Europe because the rumour had gone round that it afforded special protection in battle, magically stopping enemy bullets or sword-thrusts.

Although some have attributed the "invention" of the necktie to the Croatians, some suggest it was developed much earlier by the Romans. Roman soldiers had fought in the Balkans way back during the Roman Empire. To protect themselves from cold and sickness, the Romans wore neckscarves called fascalia (see "All About Ties"). Croatians supposedly continued this fashion trend into the 17th century. The fashion became global after the Thirty Years' War, when the Sun King honored the Croatian troops at Court. After that time, wearing a neckscarf in the Croatian fashion became known as à la croate, from which the words cravat and cravatte originated.

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