Something for the Neck: Cravats

Well I'm back again with a post that I meant to finish a while ago, but hey, I had that HSC thing. Luckily it's all over, and hopefully I can put some more up here.

For a long time now I've been interested in cravats (and other assorted neckties). I enjoy the look of having something around the neck, but I find scarves are too long, and don't fit under a collar the way a cravat does, and ties sometimes just don't suit an outfit. There are a wide variety, of cravats but I'm really interested in the bohemian kind (well at least I think it's bohemian, I'm terrible with all this cultural stuff) that the Beatles and other rockers wore, the paisley and bright variations they had.

The cravat apparently originated in France during the 1630s, when Croation mercenaries visited the country, with a variety of short scarves tied around their necks, and were adopted by the people. They were of course very popular during the the Victorian era and I love watching any series or movies from the period, to see the amazing outfits.



Then somehow the cravat evolved. Like I said before, during the Beatles period, they were pretty popular, as well as a variety of other rock bands (I saw one (said rock band) on rage the other day, but I couldn't remember it's name). There are a variety of different styles and colours, so the following is collection of images I've found. The cravat is incorporate into a wide variety of outfits, all with a different style, depending on the cravat and it's context.











While most cravats seem to indicate a sense of formality or hark back to older days, this cravat comes from the latest collection of Australian designer Arj Selvam, a rather contemporary label. A modern take on an old style perhaps?



Now at this stage I hear you saying "Well surely this guy has a cravat right? I mean he seems to like them...a lot." Well I do in fact. One is a basic red cravat, modelled on the one shown at the top of the page. The second is a western cravat/bowtie, similar to the black cross ones above. The cravats were handmade for me by a tailor I found through Etsy called A.J. Machete & Sons, who operate out of America. They talked me through the whole process, from cut, to fabric and colour. They do a whole range of custom tailoring, and I highly recommend them, you can find their store here. I included a photo of the red cravat. I would've shown you the Western cravat, except it is rather difficult to tie, and I'm on a roll typing here so I best not stop.




Sources:
Images 11 and 12 are from Street StyleAsthetic
Image 14 is from For Tomorrow
Images 1,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 13 are from Lookbook.nu (If you want to know which looks, just contact me and I'll dig it up.)
Images 4 is from Streaming Goldies
Images 2 and 3 are from somewhere else.

Listening to: Young and Restless

Well that's another post for today. As for what's next, I may post some rather old but still exciting collections from VE and From Britten P/L. For any info drop me a line.