How to tie and wear a cravat for a wedding. The history of Cravats & where to buy a Cravat online.
All about Cravats
Cravats are a highly versatile fashion accessory, they can be worn casually under a shirt with jeans for a smart casual look, or more formally with a shirt, waistcoat and jacket for social occasions such as weddings.
Cravats add a splash of colour and style to outfits. The trick is to choose a cravat in an appropriate fabric and colour, for example cotton for casualwear and something more silky for formalwear such as weddings.
They fill in the neck area and add a touch of colour, luxury, romance and sophistication.They are available in a variety of fabrics, colours and patterns, and when tied in either a casual or formal way, produce stunning and individual results.
The history of the cravat
The cravat was the forerunner of the modern necktie and bow tie and has a history dating back over 400 years. It is believed that the cravat originated in Croatia, Eastern Europe in the 1630s and was worn by military soldiers, probably to cover up the front of a dirty shirt. The cravats worn ranged from the coarse cloths worn by the soldiers, to fine linens and silks worn by the officers.
Louis XIII of France hired Croatian mercenaries to fight in one of his many battles in France. When Parisians of the time first saw the unusual and distinctively knotted scarves worn at the Croats' neck they quickly adopted the look as a fashion statement, which quickly spread across the rest of Europe.
As a result, the word cravat was born, stemming from "cravate" a corrupt French pronunciation of "Croat", which is "Hrvat" in Croatian.
How to tie a cravat - the different ways.
I have found several clips on YouTube which shows you how to tie a cravat. The techniques are simple and easy to follow, yet the results are stunning.
The clips are in order of formality,with the first clip showing a very casual way to wear a cravat under a casual shirt with jeans.The other clips show more formal ways to wear a cravat that are suitable to wear with a wedding suit.
I hope these You Tube clips provide you with the help you are looking for on ways to tie and wear a cravat tie.
How to tie a cravat - step by step instructions.
1. Put on your shirt, button it all the way up up and turn the collars up.
2. Take the cravat and drape it around your neck, making sure one half is longer than the other.
3. Take the longer length and wrap it over the other length, making a fabric cross at the base of your neck.
4. Take the shorter length that is underneath and wrap it over the other length, pulling it out straight and horizontally across towards the top of your arm.
5. Keeping the fabric horizontal, fold the shorter length back across towards the other shoulder.
6. Wrap it under and up through the top of the tie so that it drapes down the front. The front piece should be shorter than the piece underneath. Make the top piece nice and tidy.
7. Now lift it up and bring it through the loop that is underneath it - just as you would when tying an ordinary tie.
8. Tidy the knot, but don't pull the knot tight. The idea is to keep it loose and scrunchy looking so that the fabric ripples.
9. At this point it looks quite loose and you can put a tie pin in to complete it.
10. For a more formal look for weddings, tighten the tie up a bit around your neck.
11. If you wish for extra polish, tuck the top and bottom edges of the knot edges up underneath.
Cravat Pins online
A Cravat pin adds a lovely finishing touch to your cravat, but more importantly helps to keep it in place. It is another way to give an individual touch to your look. I have managed to find a Cravat Pin which is available to buy on Amazon.com.
Books on the art of tying the cravat
Books on Cravats and the art of tying the cravat.
I have found a couple of books on Amazon.com on the art of tying the cravat. If you are interested in one of these books, click on it's photograph and you will be taken straight through to Amazon.com's website where you can find out more details about the book nd purchase it if you wish.
Click on a book and buy today!