Neckties Through the Ages | A Tie Singing Dixie

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

2,000 Years of the Necktie
A Tie Singing Dixie

by David Johnson

NECKTIES
THROUGH THE AGES
 
Introduction

210 B.C.
China's First Emperor

113 A.D.
Did Romans Wear Ties?

17th Century
Croatian Cravats for the King of France

Cravats Go to England

Real Men Wear Lace

18th Century
Cowboy Bandannas from India

Sailing the Seven Seas

19th Century
Business Suit Takes Shape

Cambridge & Oxford School Ties

Ties Fit for Officers and Gentlemen

Bow Ties Center Stage

A Tie Singing Dixie

Lord Byron's Legacy

Women Tie the Knot, Too!

20th Century
Paris Presents Designer Ties

Celebrities & Rock Stars

Ascots Cross Finish Line

Bolo: The Tie That Won the West

Turtleneck: The Anti-Tie

 
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It was too hot in the American south to wear lace or silk cravats. However, in the early 1800s plantation owners displayed their social superiority by wearing wide ribbons tied in bows. Worn with a low-collared shirt, the plantation tie was the first American neckwear.
River gamblers galore

The tie went west, becoming part of Mississippi River boat culture. Mark Twain himself was painted wearing a plantation tie. It is also part of the uniform, along with a fancy white shirt and a light suit, of the riverboat gambler. The leading proponent of the plantation tie nowadays is Colonel Sanders of chicken fame, who is never pictured without one.

Country music singers and square dancers occasionally sport plantation ties as well.



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