In 1827 Baron Emile de l'Empesé
Nearly a century later, P.-L. Duchartre noted in the September 1921 issue of Monsieur magazine that, unlike the elegant men of the Romantic era, he and his contemporaries only had two, or even three, ways of wearing their ties : "if you have the chance to observe in a day, one hundred and ten more or less correctly dressed gentlemen, you will agree with me that ninety wear ties that are approximately similar and in any case tied in the same way.”
Today, when a hundred more years have passed, it is clear that the tie still only has three different shapes , far from all the individual subtleties of the elegant 19th century: the regatta, the Ascot and the bow tie.
The tie, a polymorphous accessory with foggy origins
The history of the tie is still quite fragmentary to this day. Certain essential stages are known to us, but the paths going from one to the other remain to be cleared. Written and visual sources tell us that this clothing accessory has been worn since Antiquity, in different parts of the globe.
Indeed it is displayed, in the form of a simply knotted fabric, both by terracotta soldiers of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, buried during the 3rd century BC, and by those sculpted in bas-relief on Trajan's Column, erected in Rome in the 2nd century AD.
Terracotta soldier found buried near the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (3rd century BC).
Some saw in it a simple protection of the neck against the inclement climates of some military campaigns, others as distinctive, even honorary, signs.
However, it seems that the tie only truly entered the Western fashion cycle in the 17th century, through the costume of Croatian horsemen. They then wore a piece of linen simply tied around their neck. This fashion would have been brought back to France during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) during which the troops of King Louis XIII fought alongside Croatian mercenaries in the pay of the French crown.
Under Louis
Like many fashions, that of the tie would then have passed from the military uniform to civilian clothing. However, the research of François Chaille, author of several works on the subject, tells us that the word "tie" is attested in France in the 14th century and then already designated a piece of clothing. Likewise, in Italy, in the 16th century, the scarf of Roman soldiers – the focal – was called “cravata”.
Faced with these contradictions, we would not be surprised if the “Croatian tie” is in reality one of those explanatory myths as the 19th century loved them so much. The adoption of this accessory could well have a longer and less anecdotal history, in which the role of these mercenaries from the East would only be a chapter.
Croatian soldiers dressed in traditional uniforms on the occasion of World Tie Day, October 18, 2021.
The fact remains that the tie established itself in France in the 17th century and became, two hundred years later, one of the essential elements of men's costume . The ways of tying it then multiplied, as evidenced by the work of the said Baron de l'Empesé. According to its publisher, Honoré de Balzac, there was “something for all temperaments”; the Mathematics suited the “exact mind”, the Oriental to the “man of good fortune”, the Sentimental to the “young frequenter of the boudoir”…
The taste of the day created others, such as “the regatta” which appeared in all likelihood in the middle of the 19th century. But if Mathematics and its sisters are today forgotten by everyone, the regatta has since conquered the necks of the whole world.
The regatta: the everyday tie
The regatta, or “four-in-hand” in Anglo-Saxon countries, is the tie most commonly worn today. Our research into its origin allowed us to go back at least as far as 1869, when a journalist from Le Figaro noted its presence among the clothes of a doctor, whose sobriety he underlined.
It is characterized above all by a slip knot which allows it to be tightened around the neck. Its French name suggests a nautical origin and its English name associates it with a club focused on driving teams. The two have in common the world of sport, which required more practical, but always impeccable, outfits than those of everyday life, a requirement which this tie with the solid knot met.
Several factors will contribute to favoring its hegemony at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. From the point of view of fashion itself, the adoption of vests rising higher and higher will leave little room for large sections of fabric.
Furthermore, in the 1860s, with the turndown collar taking precedence over the high raised collar, the tie knot only had a small triangular space to exist, which the Ascot and the regatta were able to accommodate very well. .
As for the history of clothing practices, the simplicity and speed of execution of the latter suited perfectly to employees of banks, public services and various administrations, who did not have the leisure of a Brummell, elegant and idle, to spend hours in front of a mirror trying to achieve a perfect knot of a simplicity that was only apparent.
Édouard Manet, The balcony, oil on canvas, 1869, Paris, Musée d'Orsay. The man's tie features a regatta knot.
However, we still had to wait until the 20th century for the form of the regatta to settle into what we know today. On June 30, 1922 a New York tie maker, JE Langsdorf, filed a patent which today can be considered as the birth certificate of the modern tie: two sides cut on the bias of the fabric and connected by a collar, lined and folded into a point. These different characteristics gave it the elasticity, solidity and good hold that it lacked until then.
Businessman from the 1970s. The fashion then was for excessively wide ties. (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)
Apart from a few anecdotal originalities (pleated, asymmetrical ties, square ends, etc.), it has not changed since then, so much so that today we wear, more or less, the same ties as the readers of Sir.
The failure of any attempt at a new form is perhaps due to the fact that the tie has been associated with good professional attire for too long to be able to evolve: because if fashion is inherently changeable, nothing is more immutable than the etiquette and uniforms.
Ascot: a rare but chic relic
The Ascot is characterized by two large symmetrical panels, connected by a generally pleated collar. Traditionally tied with a so-called Gordian knot, or simply falling in a cascade and fixed with a pin, this tie also known as a “bibcuff” covers the shirt at the waistline.
A newlywed couple circa 1940. The man is wearing a bib tie or Ascot, the sides of which are secured with a discreet tie pin. (Photo by George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images)
Very popular throughout the second half of the 19th century, it is the day tie considered to be the most elegant. At that time, the presence of British sovereigns at the annual Royal Ascot race, from which it takes its name, required the gentlemen attending to choose between it and the bow tie.
Nowadays it is discreet but remains a fundamental part of the posh wedding. Worn according to tradition with a jacket and tied in a traditional way or even with a regatta knot, it retains, inscribed in the weave of its fabric, an idea of particular elegance, appreciated precisely because it is beautifully old-fashioned.
The mathematician and MP Cédric Villani wearing one of his famous colorful lavallières. (Photo by Eric Fougere/Corbis via Getty Images)
Transcending the fashion cycle, it has risen to the rank of accessories which, from everyday, have become occasional, worn no longer to comply with current tastes but to celebrate an exceptional event.
The bow tie, between formalism and originality
In the 17th century, ties were already associated with ribbons tied into loops over which they fell. Later, during at least the first forty years of the 19th century, large ties tied around the neck were most often held in place by a knot in the shape of small wings. Then, from the 1850s, the butterfly-shaped tie, as we still know it today, was widely adopted during the day in all possible colors, and became essential in the evening, white or black.
TIE If you think you are making conquests with a knot like this.... Credit: Collection Jean Vigne/KHARBINE-TAPABOR
Today it remains more chic, but also more original, than the regatta and less rare than the Ascot. On certain luxury invitations, particularly in the United States, it may still be indicated “white tie” or “black tie”.
The first involves wearing the formal dress or uniform, the second a tuxedo. The purists tie it themselves, with art, but a quality “mounted” model is more and more tolerated – while it remains unacceptable after childhood for the regatta.
Fred Astair in suit and white tie, circa 1935. Copyright: Courtesy Everett Collection
Beyond particularly elegant circumstances, the butterfly allows itself much more formal fantasy: well-fitting cotton fabrics, scarves loosely tied in bohemian lavallières, simple black velvet ribbons and even wooden models, which we come across more and more often. more frequently at receptions of a somewhat refined elegance.
At a time when we could sadden ourselves not, like P.-L. Duchartre, the uniformity but the disappearance of the tie, these latest models, which imitate its form but reinvent its essence, appeal.
When certain men, and even princes, throw to the ground this strip of colored fabric which has become for them the noose of comfort and freedom, we have the right to rejoice to see that others continue to transform and appropriate this ancestral accessory, for no other purpose than adornment.
