TIES - from "WEVEN" (Dutch weavers magazine)
By Irene van der Horst

In particular professions the tie often is the only thing by which one man can distinguish himself from the other. Over the past years I followed my husband to business-related get-togethers, and whenever I thought that his costume had that extra something, I was disappointed: all of a sudden all his colleagues turned out looking the same!

The uniformity of this type of men's wear is so obvious, that a tie can be given as an accessory as a present. Giving any other piece of clothing as a present is considered a little bit odd, except from close relatives. The tie is both an ornament and a means to distinguish oneself. It was Luis Acosta who understood this and made his, now well-known, paper ties. Ornament you say? Absolutely. But what is the origin of the tie? Although there are different views on this, I would like to tell you what I think is the most likely.

Croatia, tie country. Where coffee stands for Brazil, fashion and champagne for France, tulips and wooden shoes are 'typically Dutch', the tie is considered Croatians national symbol. In 1635, during the Thirty-Year War, about six thousand Croatian soldiers and their officers came offering their support to Louis XIV and Richelieu. Amongst them were a large number of mercenaries under the command of a 'Ban', a Croatian viceroy.

These troops wore ties knotted around their necks. The officers wore ties of woven silk or high-grade cotton, while the ordinary soldiers wore ties of a lesser quality. Louis XIV thought this was so extraordinary that he introduced this 'Croatian style' and around 1650 the 'cravat' or 'Krawatte' in German, from the word 'Croatian' or 'Hrvat' became commonly worn in the army. The loose tie was a better sign of identification than the high-necked lace collar, which not only was very expensive, but also less visible under the long hair, which was the fashion in the seventeenth century.

Why did the Croatians wear ties? The very romantic answer to this question is that a girl, saying goodbye to her lover as he left for the army, took the shawl off her shoulders and gave it to him. He then tied this shawl around his neck. Not wanting to be outdone, his mates also started to wear shawls around their necks.

In the course of time the tie has slowly evolved into the tie as we know it today. Presenting our husband or lover with a tie, we act, I am happy to say, from the same motives as the enamoured young girl in the early seventeenth century. Currently, Croatia is a producer of high-quality ties of only the very best silk. Compared to our wooden shoes, this is remarkable.