Necktie

A necktie (usually just called a tie) is a piece of material worn around the neck. The modern necktie's original name was the four-in-hand tie. The modern necktie, along with the ascot and the bowtie, are all descended from the cravat. They are mainly worn by men, though they are sometimes worn by women, either as fashionable dress wear or as part of a uniform.

Four-in-hand

The four-in-hand tie became fashionable in Britain in the 1850s. Early ties were simple rectangular strips of cloth cut on the square with square ends. The name four-in-hand originally described a carriage with four horses and one driver. Later it became the name of a gentlemen's club in London. Some reports state that the carriage drivers tied their reins with a four-in-hand knot (see below) whilst others claim that the carriage drivers wore their scarves in the manner of a four-in-hand, but the most likely explanation is that members of the club began to wear the new style of neckwear making it fashionable. In the later half of the 19th century, the four-in-hand knot and the four-in-hand tie were synonymous. As stiff collars gave way to soft turned-down collars the four-in-hand gained popularity. With its increasing dominance, the term four-in-hand fell out of usage and it was simply called a "long tie" or a "tie".

Related Topics:
Britain - Gentlemen's club - Four-in-hand knot

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In 1926, Jesse Langsdorf from New York introduced ties cut on the diagonal which meant that the tie fell evenly from the knot without twisting.

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There are four main knots used. The simplest, the four-in-hand knot, is probably used by the vast majority of tie wearers. The other three (in order of difficulty) are the Pratt knot (also known as the Shelby knot), the half-Windsor knot and the Windsor knot. The Windsor knot is named after the Duke of Windsor, although he himself did not use it. The Duke favoured a thick knot and achieved this result by having ties specially made of thicker material. In the late 1990s, two researchers (Thomas Fink and Yong Mao) of Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory used mathematical modelling to discover that it is possible to tie 85 different knots with a conventional tie. They found that in addition to the four well-known knots, six other knots produced aesthetically pleasing results.

Related Topics:
Knot - Four-in-hand knot - Pratt knot - Half-Windsor knot - Windsor knot - Duke of Windsor - Cambridge University - Cavendish Laboratory

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Today, ties are part of the formal clothing of males in both Western and non-Western societies, particularly in business. They have also found their way into the outfits of fashionably trail blazing females. Generally it is a thick swath made from silk or cotton, and is tied around the collar.

Related Topics:
Silk - Cotton - Collar

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