Happy (Late) Cravat Day!

Since it was a cravat that pushed this blog toward fashion and clothes, it only seems appropriate that the first real post be a late celebration of Croatia's Cravat Day, which was October 18th.

Image from Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

The cravat was adopted from the 17th Century military uniforms of Croatian mercenaries serving in France.  The mercenaries would wear a strip of cloth around their necks, generally of coarse, simple fabrics for the soldiers with the officers wearing finer linens and silks.

Charles II is generally credited with taking the fashion to England when he returned there from exile in 1660.  It seems to have spread and evolved from there, though exactly when it went from being a tied cloth over the collar to a loose cloth under an open collar isn't readily apparent.

The cravat is essentially a rectangle of cloth that is tied around the neck, though nobody is sure why.  The general thought is that it was intended to protect the doublet from getting soiled or to hide a dirty collar from view.  Whatever the original function, cravats were also decorative, and quickly came to be worn in many styles.

Today, the cravat is typically worn loosely under an open shirt collar and rarely seen as anything more than a cliché for wealthy and/or effete screen characters.  When one searches for "cravats" online, the search results generally contain ascots that are incorrectly being called cravats as the latter term seems to be more familiar to people.

Mr. Steele as he receives word that cravats have become cliché.

So you should probably avoid the cravat in your everyday wardrobe unless you're really sure of yourself or looking to be seen as very well-off or feminine.