What is a necktie?
A: A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative
purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the
throat, and often draped down the chest.
Variants include what?
A: The ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cravat, and knit.
The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended
from what?
A: The cravat.
Neckties can also be part of a what?
A: A uniform.
Neckties are traditionally worn with the top shirt
button fastened, and the tie knot resting where?
A: Between the collar points.
The necktie that spread from Europe traces back to
where?
A: Croatian mercenaries serving in France during the Thirty Years' War
(1618–1648).
These mercenaries from the Military Frontier, wearing
their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of whom?
A: The Parisians.
Because of the difference between the Croatian word for
Croats, Hrvati, and the French word, Croates, the garment gained what name?
A: The name cravat (cravate in French).
Louis XIV began wearing a lace cravat around 1646, when
he was seven, doing what?
A: Setting the fashion for French nobility.
This new article of clothing started a fashion craze in
Europe; both men and women wore what?
A: Pieces of fabric around their necks.
From its introduction by the French king, men wore lace
cravats, or jabots, that what?
A: Took a large amount of time and effort to arrange.
In 1818 with the publication of Neckclothitania, a
style manual that contained illustrated instructions on how to do what?
A: How to tie 14 different cravats.
With the industrial revolution, more people wanted
neckwear that was what?
A: Easy to put on, was comfortable and would last an entire workday.
Neckties were designed to be long, thin, and easy to
knot, without what?
A: Accidentally coming undone.
By this time, the sometimes-complicated array of knots
and styles of neckwear gave way to neckties and bow ties, the latter a much
smaller, more convenient version of what?
A: The cravat.
In 1922, a New York tie maker, Jesse Langsdorf, came up
with what?
A: A method of cutting the fabric on the bias and
sewing it in three
segments.
This technique improved what?
A: The elasticity and facilitated the fabric's return to its original shape.
After the First World War, what became an accepted form
of decoration in the U.S.?
A: Hand-painted ties.
The widths of some of these ties went up to how wide?
A: 4.5 inches (11 cm).
The "pre-tied", or more commonly, the clip-on, the
necktie is a what?
A: A permanently knotted four-in-hand or bow tie affixed by a clip or hook.
The clip-on tie sees use with children, and in occupations where a traditional necktie might pose a safety hazard to mechanical equipment operators, etc.
Although he did not invent it, the Windsor knot is
named after whom?
A: The Duke of Windsor.
The Duke did favor a voluminous knot; however, he
achieved this by having neckties specially made of what?
A: Thicker cloths.
