USA FavouritesMen's Silk Ties – A Long History & a Short Story
The earliest known version of the necktie has been found in the massive mausoleum of China's first emperor, Shih Huang Ti, who was buried in 210 B.C. Desperately afraid of death, the emperor wanted to slaughter an entire to army to accompany him into the next world. His advisers ultimately persuaded him to take life-size replicas of the soldiers instead. Each figure is different - except in one respect: all wear neck cloths. Probably better known to you as The Terracotta Army.
Discovered only in 1974 near the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an in the Shaanxi province and now referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, the 'Terracotta Army' comprises of more than 7,000 life-size figures in fired clay, which represented the troops to guard China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, after his death in 210 BC.
In 113 A.D., one of Rome's greatest Emperors, the military genius Trajan, erected a marble column to commemorate a triumphant victory over the Dacians, who lived in what is now Romania. The 2,500 realistic figures on the column sport no less than three different styles of neckwear. These include shorter versions of the modern necktie; cloth wound around the neck and tucked into armour; and knotted kerchiefs reminiscent of cowboy bandannas.
"The Sun King," Louis XIV of France, was intrigued and delighted by the colourful silk kerchiefs worn around the necks of Croatian mercenaries. A crack regiment, the soldiers were presented at court around 1660 so the King could thank them for a victory against the Hapsburg Empire.
The elegant French courtiers and the military immediately began copying the Croatians. Ordinary soldiers began adorning their necks with lace, while officers sported muslin or silk, possibly trimmed with embroidery. Even poor people wore cotton cravats, sometimes of pleated black taffeta.
In 1660, King Charles II returned to England and reclaimed the throne. Aristocrats flooded England, bringing with them a passion for the pleasures of the European courts. England wanted to have fun. Gambling, drinking, music, dancing, parties, theatre, elaborate clothes, grand wigs, and the stylish new cravat were suddenly all the rage.
Art museums throughout the U.S. and Europe are full of paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries showing generals, politicians, and aristocrats resplendent in their lace cravats. Lace was not the only material used for cravats. Plaid scarves, ribbon, embroidered linen, tasselled strings and ordinary cotton were all pulled into service. Some neckwear was so thick it was able to stop a sword thrust.
A few years before 19th century trendsetter Beau Brummell, a rugged young prize-fighter of working class origins named Jem Belcher took to wearing a blue silk bandanna covered with large white spots containing pale blue bird's eye centres. Soon, working class Englishmen in their thousands were wearing coloured bandannas.
In so doing, they were adopting a trend already common in America. Only rich colonists wore cravats made of lace. America was already adopting a casual, practical attitude toward fashion.
Derived from the Sanskrit word, bandhna, or bandhana, meaning "tying", bandannas were first imported from India around 1700. The original bandannas were silk and came in an array of colours, including red, blue, green, brown, black and white, pink, and yellow. Bandannas could also be hand printed or tie-dyed with flowers or bird's eye patterns. Cowboys used red or blue bandannas to keep dust from the face. Bandits also used bandannas as masks. Bandannas today are an integral part of western style, and are often worn when square dancing. In the 18th and 19th centuries, British sailors often wore white and blue uniforms, complete with a silk or cotton bandanna or scarf, usually blue.
The well-dressed man about town should wear clothes that are simple, functional and discreet, George Bryan "Beau" Brummell commanded in the early 19th century. By advocating well-cut, tailored clothes, Brummell essentially invented what has come to be known as the "British look." Brummell rejected 18th century frills. His mandate, a dark blue coat, buff-coloured pantaloons and waistcoat, black boots and a clean white neck cloth, survives today as the dark business suit and white shirt, and as crisp white sportswear.
The I Zingari Cricket Club, founded by a group of Cambridge University students in 1845, is believed to have created the first sporting colours. They designed a flag of black, bright orange-red and gold, symbolizing "out of darkness, through fire, into light." Blazers, caps and ties were eventually created in these colours. In 1880, the rowing club at Oxford University's Exeter College men's club invented the first school tie by removing their ribbon hat bands from their boater hats and tying them, four-in-hand. When they ordered a set of ties, with the colours from their hatbands, they had created the modern school tie. School, club, and athletic ties appeared in abundance. Some schools had different ties for various grades, levels of achievement, and for graduates. Today four-in-hand refers to both the standard necktie and the most common knot used to tie it.
In the 1880s the British military finally decided abandon its array of brightly coloured uniforms that had always made such good targets. But they retained the beloved old military colours on the stripes of the neckties each regiment would come to adopt. These ties not only preserved the traditional colours, they provided the only creativity for the drab new uniforms.
In the 1920s a pioneering Paris fashion designer, Jean Patou, invented the designer tie. He made ties from women's clothing material including patterns inspired by the latest art movements of the day, Cubism and Art Deco. Designer ties made quite a splash in the 1960s, when designers from London's Carnaby Street devised the Peacock Look and churned out wide, colourful ties in a variety of flowered, abstract and psychedelic patterns. Today, designer ties abound. Designers create some themselves, while others are made by manufacturers under licensing agreements. Designer ties are also popular with women, who associate them with high fashion.
