Well, as you might have noticed if you've read our articles, many fashionable items became alive during certain Kings and Queens Reign or in the middle of the battlefield for those who have a little army heritage like the Safari Jacket, par example.
In today's lesson, we learn that this little piece of cloth named Tie combines both Royal and military heritage, making the Tie sort of "the Baby of both worlds".
This “Once upon a time” story begins during King Louis XIII’s Reign, in the middle of the Thirty Years War in France back in the 17th century. King Louis hired certain Croatian soldiers and this soldiers arrived at court while wearing a piece of cloth around their neck as part of their uniform. Can you guess what happened next? Of course Louis loved this piece of cloth and so did his son, Louis XIV, and they even named this cloth “ La Cravate” - because everything sounds amazing in French!
But what did La Cravate symbolize?
By 1800s, things regarding neckwear escalated quickly, as much as touching another man’s neckwear was considered to be grounds for a duel! Probably back then, people needed more hobbies or really loved a good ol’ duel. 1800s is also the time period that embraced some of the ties that resemble more with those wore today.
Soon enough, the word “Tie” starts replacing the term “Cravate” and the well known “four-in-hand” knot is embraced by people all over the world, especially in the military. The story goes on with the Tie-knot taking over universities and colleges like Oxford. At the same time, more and more knots were being developed.
In 1827 the first book on this topic was launched, which also became a best-seller in no time: L’Art de Se Mettre la Cravate included 32 knots to try. Things rested as they were until 1920s when a New York tie maker named Jesse Langsdorf patented a new way of cutting fabric on an angle and then sewing it in three segments to create the Langsdorf Necktie (hence, the name). The amazing aspect of this was that it laid flat without getting twisted and could easily switch back to its original shape after each wear, opening door to many more knots to try!
In 1930 the tie trend went into another direction: wider and shorter all the way!
The most significant thing about this period was the invention of the Windsor knot, created by the Duke of Windsor în 1936. The Duke preferred an extra wide knot and commissioned ties made from a thicker cloth.
In 1940, ties got a little more playful once the Hawaiian shirts appeared. There were more patterns and bright colours than before. Every decade, something changed. The 1950s for instance came with an extreme opposite of “skinny tie” matching “skinny suits”.
Only some of these trends survived over time, managing to get to 1990s with a more uniform width and three basic knots: The Windsor, The Half Windsor and the Four-In-Hand.
Through the years, ties have been seen as symbols of social rank, coming of age or male sexuality. In the 1960s, the tie was the symbol of Establishment. In the 1980s, it represented power and financial success.
From 2000s to present, ties became a novelty while “casual Fridays” invaded most of the week's office days. But do you actually know when you should wear a tie?
Ties are generally reserved for formal and business occasions. This also depends on the fabric used to create this piece of cloth. Nowadays, there are casual fabrics crafted into ties, especially to blend in well with a more casual outfit. For instance, this is what De IONESCU wanted to present to its clients: a more casual approach to this fashionable and pretentious item: The Hemp Tie.
Our Hemp Tie product works beautifully in so many circumstances and outfits. It can either be the star of the outfit or it can be a spalsh of colour in your “neutral” colour palette. The bottom line is still the same: The Hemp Tie is here to make your life a little bit more fun while making sure you look interview-ready, dashing if it's your birthday, or your wedding season and even edgy on court days. You name it, we have it!
Now you're probably imagining different colours and shades, right?
Because we crafted suits in more Earthy tones, leaving prints and patterns to our fellow competitors, we wanted to compliment our Hemp Suits and Suit Jackets with a spalsh of colour offered by this little piece of cloth we've been babbling about for 800 words now:
- The Hemp Tie -
From delightful Aubergine shade of purple, down to a Merlot Mid-Summer Night's Dream, ending in a Forest Green tint that will make you feel refreshed in no time, are just a couple of De IONESCU's proposals in terms of Hemp Ties.
Head onto our Shop and find all the available colours (in case you don't know them yet) and start playing the fabulous game of Mix and Match!
What's your style?
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