Neckcloth

The cravat (/krəˈvæt/) is a neckband, the forerunner of the modern tailored necktie and bow tie, originating from a style worn by members of the seventeenth-century military unit known as the Croats.

From the end of the sixteenth century, the term band applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a ruff. The ruff, a starched, pleated white linen strip, originated earlier in the sixteenth century as a neckcloth (readily changeable, to minimize the soiling of a doublet), as a bib, or as a napkin. A band could be either a plain, attached shirt collar or a detachable "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar. It is possible that initially, cravats were worn to hide soil on shirts. Alternatively, it was thought to serve as psychological protection of the neck during battle from attack by a spear.

The cravat originated in the 1630s. Like most men's fashions between the seventeenth century and World War I, it was of military origin. In the reign of Louis XIII of France, Croatian mercenaries were enlisted into a regiment supporting the king and Cardinal Richelieu against the Duke of Guise and the Queen Mother, Marie de' Medici. The traditional Croat military kit aroused Parisian curiosity about the unusual, picturesque scarves distinctively knotted at the Croats' necks. The cloths that were used ranged from the coarse cloths of enlisted soldiers to the fine linens and silks of the officers. The sartorial word, , derives from the French , a variant of Croate.

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