Cravat (early)

The cravat () is a neckband, the forerunner of the modern tailored

necktie 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 the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cra ...

and

bow tie The bow tie is a type of necktie. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also called the bow knot for that reason. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar of a shirt in a symmetrical manner so that th ...

, originating from a style worn by members of the 17th century military unit known as the Croats. The modern British "cravat" is called an "ascot" in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

. From the end of the sixteenth century, the term ''band'' applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a

ruff Ruff may refer to: Places *Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community *Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community Other uses *Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...

. The ruff, a starched, pleated white

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

strip, originated earlier in the sixteenth century as a neckcloth (readily changeable, to minimize the soiling of a

doublet Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much",