News
On the occasion of the International Day of The Cravat on the 18th of October we invite all the English speaking individuals to call the knotted scarf around their neck by it’s original name the cravat instead of tie and necktie.
The fashion of wearing knotted scarves in England as well as the word „cravate“ in the form of „the cravat“ introduced King Charles II in 1660, upon his return from exile. Later on from the expression „to tie the cravat“ a new name developed for the cravat in English – the „tie“ and „necktie“.
Today, the original word cravat in modern English signifies a wide straight piece of fabric worn loosely tied round the neck, most often tucked inside an open-necked shirt.
Considering that the word „cravat“ originally meant a tied scarf, and has been accepted by the majority of languages in the world to denote the modern tie, the proposal of Academia Cravatica is to re-establish, also in English, the original word „cravat“ instead of the words „tie“ and „necktie“.
The etymology of the word „cravat“ has Croatian roots. The expression „cravate“ symbolizing the scarf – cravat worn by Croatian soldiers in The Thirty Years war entered the French lexic in the middle of the XVII century, during the reign of the King Louis XIV. In those days the Croats were called „les cravats“ in France, and the corresponding term in German was „Krawaten“ ( from the book „The Cravat – Croatian adornment on the world’s shirt“, D. Načinović, AC, 2007.)
The necktie (or tie) is a long piece of cloth worn around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. The modern necktie, ascot and bow tie are descended from the cravat. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/necktie)
In the name of AC
Marijan Bušić, Director
