October 18th is indeed national necktie day. O.K., maybe not in the U.S. but they’ve officially celebrated the invention of the necktie (or Cravat) in Croatia since 2008, as a means of fostering national pride among their citizens. Croatians believe their mercenary soldiers, in the 1600’s, ushered in the style of wearing ornamental neckwear among Europeans. Now, they did wear some stunning bright red neckwear into battle as a ploy to psyche out their enemies. They looked pretty manly and fierce exhibiting such fearlessly brazen attitudes.
But to the French, the look was ooh-la-la enough for their beloved sun king, Louis XIV, to begin wearing a lacy cravat at the ripe old age of 7. Upon first encountering that sight, the French fell in love with the idea of neckties. The British, then, took to the fashion and ran with it. Everyone wore them, which didn’t make the elites too happy. Ties, especially those of aristocratic origin, were so beloved by the general population that shop owners began to demand proof of certain affiliations before selling particular ties to potential buyers. In fact, today, neckwear tied to different sporting groups, prep schools, or universities in England can command thousands of pounds at exclusive auctions. It was the English love for brandishing cloth ties about their necks that ultimately spread the fashion around the globe, even to the New World. American necks of every persuasion… from gentleman to common man, from farmers to cowboys to river boat gamblers and captains of industry…were soon adorned with the neckwear. From those beginnings, the necktie, in all of its myriad colors and styles came to be worn every day by humans all across the world.
Despite the Croatian claim, it’s possible that the idea of the necktie was invented long before they began wearing cravats. Some form of neck cloth has been around for a couple of millennia, at least. The tomb of Ch’in Shih Huang, China’s first emperor, contains 7,500 terracotta warriors, all sporting neckwear! It is thought the Emperor bestowed honor upon those who followed him to the afterlife with the silk neck cloths. The necktie has had the elevated position of primary accessory in the most auspicious wardrobes of emperors, king and noblemen throughout time. Even the great soldiers of Rome depicted on marble columns commemorating victories from around 113 A.D., are wearing three different styles of neckwear.
Today, you’ll find at least 85 wonderful necktie knots. For those who doubt, this number has actually been scientifically confirmed in a long and rather dry book! Of those knots, about 13 are deemed highly aesthetic due to their balance and symmetry. Some twist and maneuver a simple strip of fabric into fantastically beautiful artistic creations. The Nicky knot (named for Nikita Krushchev) is one of the tiniest. The Atlantic knot (a reversed Pratt knot) shows the back side of the knot on the outside of the tie, and the Kransny Hourglass knot looks like, well, an hourglass! Just type “necktie knots” in a Pinterest search box to see some knots that truly boggle the mind.
Amazing as those intricate necktie knots are, they were all first learned as a simple knot like the four in hand or the schoolboy knot. Even common knots have been known to make grown men feel like fools when struggling to tie them. But with a little help, necktie knots can be easily mastered. Today, there are books, websites, and even videos devoted to teaching the art of masterfully knotting a necktie. Some contain instructions so easy, that it truly becomes like child’s play. For instance, consider “Learn To Tie A Tie With The Rabbit And The Fox”, a cute, illustrated story with an instructional song that is meant to make it easy for parents to help teach their children to tie a simple knot in a tie. A romp through the forest in that book will soon have even the youngest child proudly showing off a neatly knotted tie.
Love them or hate them, neckties are not going away. They are continually re-introduced into society as the perfect complement to professional business attire or formal wear. Private school children wear them to show school pride and even public schools have begun to feature “wear a tie to school day” at least once a year, as a way of instilling feelings of camaraderie among students. Neckties have even been co-opted by rockers and other Avant-garde artists as an anti-establishment means of looking edgy or cool.
So, let’s all celebrate along with the Croatians, on October 18th, the ideas that neckties represent by tying one on…literally. Whether worn to proclaim status, or allegiance to a group, or to make a man stand out from the masses, wear it proudly because one thing for sure can be said about a necktie…it does make any male, at any age look very, very good.
Sybrina Durant is the author of “Learn To Tie A Tie With The Rabbit And The Fox – Story with Instructional Song – A cute story book meant to make it fun and easy for parents to teach their children to learn to tie a simple knot in a necktie. The book is available in English, Spanish and Tagalog but not in Croatian…yet! Purchase at any online bookstore. Learn more at Sybrina.com or check out her Pinterest board where you’ll find articles, reviews, and book awards mixed among hundreds of cute pics of kids wearing neckties.
Before my hands were paralyzed fifty years ago, although I got a knot tying merit badge in Boy Scouts, I only tied my neckties with one knot that didn't look very good. About that time, button-down collars came along, making the knot less conspicuous in its awkwardness and keeping unstarched collars in line.
With my hands useless, I couldn't hook a belt, so I ditched it; couldn't tie shoestrings, so bought slip on shoes; couldn't button my shirts, so got a button hook; and couldn't tie ties, so bought the newfangled clip ons. I would carry my tie to an event or work and have a secretary or even a stranger fasten my top button on my shirt and hang on the dorky tie. I even had some regular ties that I got as presents converted to hang ons or clip ons. In spite of doing superlative work and wearing a coat and tie, I probably missed promotion more than once for my looks. It isn't just women that have that problem.
In my first time and motion class, our instructor, as an experiment, asked each of us to use verbal commands to teach another how to put his or her tie on. The result was very laughable, but showed how difficult it was to very carefully and precisely tell someone, only verbally, how to do a rather difficult task without actually showing them or helping them guide their hands. This illustration has haunted me continuously as my only way of showing people how to do things for me is to instruct them with my voice. Invariably, using their own brains instead of my instructions, my helpers do something other than what I say… and often give up or have to redo even the simplest of tasks.
Finally, about fifteen years ago, knowing that I no longer would be promoted in finding that using the computer mouse caused my neck to swell, making it nearly impossible to button the top button on my neck and making a tie uncomfortable, I quit wearing one. I also quit wearing a jacket in the hot summer months, revealing my atrophied arms. Amazingly, many of the administrators where I worked seem to follow my lead, first not wearing ties, and later, opting for casual wear over coat and tie. Made me feel like a trendsetter…
Finally, after I helped my Thai friend with his dissertation, he rewarded me with a beautiful silk tie and gold Buddhist god tie tack. I had to convert the tie, but it was well worth it. When having someone put on that tie, I would ask them, “Could you please help me put on my Thai tie and my Thai tie tack?” Try saying that twenty times… ;-)
Ron