History of the Necktie

The necktie has long been the most popular (and also the most derided) Father's Day gift. The custom of giving neckties for Father's Day has been traced back to the 1920s but cannot be attributed to one particular person or event. By then neckties were a staple of male fashion, and so it was considered a practical and now, classic gift. The earliest Father's Day cards featured ties, and retailers capitalized on it by creating new styles and designs. The necktie has been associated with Father's Day like giving flowers has been for Mother's Day.

The necktie, or variations of it, has existed for centuries. In ancient Egypt a piece of fabric tied around the shoulders represented social status. Chinese and Roman art depict men wearing fabric that resemble the contemporary version of the necktie. The origin of the necktie has been traced to the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Military Frontier and French service wore small, knotted neckerchiefs, to which the Parisians took note. This inspired a fashion craze throughout Europe and the neckwear was called a cravat. The name, "cravat" derives from a combination of the Croatian word for Croat, "Hrvati," and the French word, "Croates."

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, lace was a popular material for cravats. Both men and women wore lace cravats. It is rumored that King Charles II once spent over twenty pounds for one lace cravat. In those days, the amount was five times the annual middle class salary. While not as popular, cravats were also made with plaid and cotton material, and some had embellishments such as ribbon, embroidery and tassels. Some cravats were thick enough to prevent being punctured by a sword.

By this time there was much debate over the proper way to tie a cravat. This sparked the publication of Neckclothitania, which instructed the reader on how to tie fourteen different cravats. It is also the first known usage of the word, "tie," in association with neckwear.

Early in the nineteenth century George Bryan "Beau" Brummel rejected the eighteenth century frills in favor of a more tailored look. His "British look" of wearing a dark blue coat, buff-colored pantaloons and waistcoat and a clean, white neck cloth set the standard for the contemporary dark business suit, white shirt and tie.

The English have been using stripes in their ties since the 1920s. On a typical English tie, the stripes ran from the left shoulder toward the right side. In the United States, Brooks Brothers had their stripes going in the opposite direction.

In 1926, a New York tie maker, Jesse Langsdorf invented the tie we know today. His technique of cutting three strips of fabric on the bias and sewing them together made it easier to tie and for the fabric to not come undone. Since then the tie has undergone variations in width and also designs. In the 1940s ties became as wide as five inches and were shorter than they are worn today. Bright, hand-painted designs became popular and continued to be so until the 1950s when their designs became more subdued. In the 1960s dark, solid ties as narrow as one inch were in vogue. A well-made silk tie has never gone out of style.

In the United States tie sales are a billion-dollar industry. One hundred million ties were sold in the United States last year. Women account for eighty per cent of those purchases.