The history --- 2,000 Years of the Necktie, Americas favorite Father's Day gift   Fathers Day A Celebration In Honor of All Fathers It's Dad's special day. For those lucky enough to have your Dad here, I hope you value him more each day. If your Dad is no longer with you, I hope that the day is filled with wonderful memories. Happy Father's Day! Father's Day is a day of commemoration and celebration of Dad. It is a day to not only honor your father, but all men who have acted as a father figure in your life - whether as Stepfathers, Uncles, Grandfathers, or "Big Brothers. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, crayon scribbled "I Love You(s) and, of course, let's not forget that lovely new tie! Father's Day is celebrated in the US on Sunday, June 20, 2004. Other Countries celebrate throughout the year. Like them or not, neckties are THE Father's Day gift. Americans spend more than $1 billion each year to buy a staggering 100 million ties. That's roughly one tie for every male over the age of 20 in the United States.      Ties have been used to proclaim status, occupation, and even identity, as well as allegiance to a group or cause, often military Neckwear has also had utilitarian purposes-to protect the neck or hide buttons on a shirt. Men's neckwear has been made of every kind of material: silk, cotton, wool, leather, rope, string, lace, linen, rayon, and polyester. And whether they were called cravats, jabots, bandannas, bolos, ascots, bootlaces, bows, butterflies, kerchiefs, or simply ties, neckties have been closely linked to the male ego. The earliest known version of the necktie was worn by Shih Huan Ti, China's first emperor The earliest known version of the necktie has been found in the massive mausoleum of China's first emperor, Shih Huang Ti, who was buried in 210 B.C. Desperately afraid of death, the emperor wanted to slaughter an entire to army to accompany him into the next world. His advisers ultimately persuaded him to take life-size replicas of the soldiers instead. The result is one of the marvels of the ancient world. Unearthed in 1974 near the ancient capital city of Xian, the tomb contained an astonishing 7,500 life-size terracotta replicas of Shih Huang Ti's famed fighting force. Legions of officers, soldiers, archers and horsemen, all carved in meticulous detail, guard the emperor's sarcophagus. The armor, uniforms, hair, and facial expressions of the soldiers are reproduced in exquisite detail. Each figure is different - except in one respect: all wear neck cloths. An ancient mystery, historians say other records indicate the Chinese did not wear ties, so why the emperor's guards wore carefully wrapped silk cloths remains a mystery. Since silk was a great luxury, the cloths could indicate the ultimate honor Shih Huang Ti bestowed on his soldiers; they were trusted enough to guard him until the end of time. In 113 A.D., one of Rome's greatest Emperors, the military genius Trajan, erected a marble column to commemorate a triumphant victory over the Dacians, who lived in what is now Romania.The 2,500 realistic figures on the column sport no less than three different styles of neckwear. These include shorter versions of the modern necktie; cloth wound around the neck and tucked into armor; and knotted kerchiefs reminiscent of cowboy bandannas.While Roman orators often wore cloths to keep their throats warm, soldiers did not cover their necks. In fact, writers such as Horace and Seneca said only effeminate men covered their necks. Skilled warriorsTrajan's column is the only representation of legionnaires with neckwear. Historians believe the legionnaires wore cloths for reasons similar to those of Shih Huang Ti's terracotta army. Truly great fighters must be visibly honored. And, the legionnaires were so skilled in battle that they were immune to perceptions of appearing feminine" The Sun King," Louis XIV of France, was intrigued and delighted by the colorful silk kerchiefs worn around the necks of Croatian mercenaries. A crack regiment, the soldiers were presented at court around 1660 so the King could thank them for a victory against the Hapsburg Empire. Many experts believe the French word for tie, cravat, is a corruption of "Croat." In fact, French kings maintained an elite regiment, the Cravate Royale, until the French Revolution of 1789.Other sources say cravat is derived from the Turkish word kyrabacs, or the Hungarian, korbacs, both meaning "whip" or "long, slender object." Researchers have also noted the word cravat appeared in French before the arrival of the Croatians. They suggest the term is a corruption of rabat, French for a hanging collar.One thing is certain: the elegant French courtiers, and the military immediately began copying the Croatians. Ordinary soldiers began adorning their necks with lace, while officers sported muslin or silk, possibly trimmed with embroidery. Even poor people wore cotton cravats, sometimes of pleated black taffeta. In 1660, King Charles II returned to England and reclaimed the throne that had been lost during the Puritan revolution. After nine years in exile, aristocrats flooded England, bringing with them a passion for the pleasures of the European courts. Weary of war, and tired of the austerity imposed by Oliver Cromwell; England wanted to have fun. Gambling, drinking, music, dancing, parties, theater, elaborate clothes, grand wigs, and yes, the stylish, new cravat, were suddenly all the rageArt museums throughout the U.S. and Europe are full of paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries showing generals, politicians, and aristocrats resplendent in their lace cravats. Lace was used for trimming, both men's and women's clothing, and also for decorating. Windows, beds, chairs, and tables were all festooned with lace. Although England produced prodigious quantities of lace itself, lace from Flanders and Venice, considered the best, was imported in vast quantities. Because of strict trade regulations, lace smuggling became an international pastime.For those who could afford it, no price was too costly. King Charles II is said to have once spent 20 pounds and 12 shillings on a single cravat. This was as much as five times an annual middle class salary.Lace was not the only material used for cravats. Plaid scarves, ribbon, embroidered linen tasseled strings and ordinary cotton were all pulled into service. Some neckwear was so thick it was able to stop a sword thrust. Pulling no punches for bandannas,a few years before 19th century trendsetter Beau Brummell, a rugged young prizefighter of working class origins named Jem Belcher took to wearing a blue silk bandanna covered with large white spots containing pale blue bird's eye centers. Soon, working class Englishmen by thousands were wearing colored bandannas. In so doing, they were adopting a trend already common in America. Only rich colonists wore cravats made of lace. America was already adopting a casual, practical attitude toward fashion.      Derived from the Sanskrit word, bandhna, or bandhana, meaning "tying", bandannas were first imported from India around 1700. The original bandannas were silk and came in an array of colors, including red, blue, green, brown, black and white, pink, and yellow. Bandannas could also be hand printed or tie-dyed with flowers or bird's eye patterns. Cowboys used red or blue bandanna to keep dust from the face. Bandits also used bandannas as masks. Bandannas today are an integral part of western style, and are often worn square dancing      In the 18th and 19th centuries, British sailors often wore white and blue uniforms, complete with a silk or cotton bandanna, or scarf, usually blue. The sailor suit began to be worn in the mid 1800s as yachting became popular. This has had its greatest impact on clothing for women and children. The modern sailor's suit was introduced for boys around 1860 and became an instant success. Still worn today, the white and blue outfit also comes with a dress for girls. The well-dressed man about town should wear clothes that are simple, functional and discreet, George Bryan "Beau" Brummell commanded in the early 19th century. By advocating well-cut, tailored clothes, Brummell essentially invented what has come to be known as the "British look."Brummell rejected 18th century frills. His mandate, a dark blue coat, buff-colored pantaloons and waistcoat, black boots and a clean white neck cloth, survives today as the dark business suit and white shirt, and as crisp white sportswear He was particularly adamant about the whiteness of his cravats. As he made his daily rounds from the park, various gentleman's clubs and fashionable homes, Brummell would stop and change his cravat as often as three times a day. He preferred neck cloths that were lightly starched and carefully folded.The simplicity of Brummell's uniform was adopted by everyone from many working men to his friend, the Prince Regent, later King George IV. For the first time, poorer men hoping to make their way in the world could easily imitate upper class fashion.      In 1880, the rowing club at Oxford University's Exeter College One men's club, invented the first school tie by removing their ribbon hat bands from their boater hats and tying them, four-in-hand. When they ordered a set of ties, with the colors from their hatbands, they had created the modern school tie. School, club, and athletic ties appeared in abundance. Some schools had different ties for various grades, levels of achievement, and for graduates. Such ties had enormous appeal to the vast Victorian middle class. As industrialization allowed for mass consumption of material goods, men wanted to stand out, to assert their social superiority, or to proclaim their allegiance to a group.      Today four-in-hand refers to both the standard necktie and the most common knot used to tie it. In the 1880s the British military finally decided abandon its array of brightly colored uniforms that had always made such good targets. But they retained the beloved old military colors on the stripes of the neckties each regiment would come to adopt. These ties not only preserved the traditional colors, they provided the only creativity for the drab new uniforms. The Royal Rifle Corps sported rifle green and scarlet ties, while the stripes of the Artists' Rifles were black, gray, and red; the Inns of Court wore green and blue stripes.      Rules on who may wear the more than 200 regimental ties can be quite strict. Some of the prestigious London stores sometimes ask customers to indicate they have the right to wear a particular tie. This pushes up the price collectors are willing to pay for an especially rare tie. Some unusual or rare ties will change hands for thousands of dollars. The bow tie gets is name from the French, jabot, (pronounced ja-bow), a type of readymade 17th century lace cravat. In the 18th and 19th centuries, bow ties came in various materials and styles.White bow ties were formal, but others were colored. For example, 19th century Irish immigrants to America favored brown, green, or red bow ties.      The enduring popularity of the black bow tie dates to 1886, when Pierre Lorillard V invented the tuxedo as an alternative to the tailcoats worn with white bow ties. The new dinner jacket got its name from the resort of Tuxedo Park, New York, where it was first worn Black bow ties and tuxedo are now standard at high school proms and weddings. But bow ties have lost favor for business because they are complicated to tie and must be made in the correct collar size. 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. 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 Ironically several ties have been named after the romantic poet, Lord Byron, who seldom wore any sort of neck cloth. The first Byron was a big floppy bow in white, brown or black appeared in the 1820s. In the 1840s, a Byron was made of string or narrow ribbon, while after the 1860s it was a large, often readymade bow. Although women have probably always adorned their necks, they did not wear neckties until the later 1800s. Feminine versions of men's neckties began to appear along with the more tailored clothing women wore while bicycling, skating, hiking, or boating. A pioneer of the Rational Dress Movement, Englishwoman Amelia Bloomer, invented a pair of long, loose woman's pants, which bear her name.Even more women began wearing ties, and trousers, during World War I, as millions of women headed to offices and factories to fill the vacancies created by men at war. In the 1920s a pioneering Paris fashion designer, Jean Patou, invented the designer tie. He made ties from women's clothing material including patterns inspired by the latest art movements of the day, Cubism and Art Deco.Targeted toward women purchasers, his expensive ties were highly successful. Today women buy 80 percent of ties sold in the US. Therefore ties are often displayed near the perfume or women's clothing departments.Designer ties made quite a splash in the 1960s, when designers from London's Carnaby Street devised the Peacock Look and churned out wide, colorful ties in a variety of flowered, abstract and psychedelic patterns. Know mod (for modern) styles were the forerunners of the hippie movement, which often dispensed with neckties altogether, often favoring colorful scarves at the neck, or wearing open shirts with chains or medallions. Today, designer ties abound. Designers create some themselves, while others are made by manufacturers under licensing agreements. Designer ties are also popular with women, who associate them with high fashion.With the advent of mass media, celebrities such as sports heroes, movie actors, and popular singers would create a variety of neckwear trends.Humphrey Bogart often sported bow ties, while another actor, Ronald Colman, was considered one of Hollywood's sharpest dressers with his tailored, elegant look. Elvis Presley sported an old fashioned neckerchief, and helped prolong and out of date style a few more years.      In Europe an ascot is a wide cravat of pale gray patterned silk only worn with very formal morning wear, to weddings, or England's Royal Ascot races, where it gets its name. In the U.S., ascot means cravat. The ascot was commonly worn for business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries The bolo, or bola, tie is so common in the west today that many people are surprised to find that it is relatively new. In the late 1940s, a silversmith named Victor Cedarstaff went riding with friends in the Bradshaw Mountains outside Wickenburg, Arizona. When the wind blew his hat off, Cedarstaff removed the hatband, which had a silver buckle he did not want to lose, and put it around his neck.When his friends complemented him on the new apparel, Cedarstaff returned home, and wove a leather string. He added silver balls to the ends and ran it through a turquoise buckle. Cedarstaff later patented the new neckwear, which was called the bolo because it resembled the lengths of rope used by Argentine gauchos to catch game or cattle.Now mass-produced, and bolos are usually made of leather cord, with a silver or turquoise buckle. They are common throughout the west and are often worn for business. In 1971 Arizona legislature named the bolo the official state neckwear The turtleneck could be called the anti-tie. British writer Noel Coward started wearing colored turtlenecks in the 1920's and created a new fad. French intellectuals and their counterparts in the United States popularized black turtlenecks in the 1950s.Although contemporary ties come in all sorts of styles, there are relatively few knots in common use today. This is a far cry from Beau Brummell's day, when fashion manuals illustrated 32 ways to tie a cravat. In addition, gentlemen would often improvise their own knots.The four-in-hand knot is the virtually standard in the United States. The more complex windsor (invented by the Duke of Windsor), and the half Windsor, are more popular in Europe and South America.The knot should not be so large as to spread out the collar, nor should it be so tiny that it can hardly be seen. With some variations, the standard width of a necktie has remained standard throughout the 20th century. The 1930s gangster look featured wide ties, which reappeared during the 1960s, when ties drew to 5 inches in width. In the 1950s, skinny ties with square ends were in vogue for a while.Since ties should be in proportion to shirt collars and suit lapels, therefore some fluctuation in width can be expected. However, ties should generally be 3 ¼ inches across at the widest point. The tie then tapers off to the short end.      Ties are available between 52 and 58 inches long. Tall men or those using a Windsor knot may need custom-made ties. When knotted both ends of the necktie should reach the belt. While each end should be roughly the same length, the wider part may be slightly longer. Ties today are commonly worn without clasps, pins, or tacks. That was not always the case, however. In the 17th century, ties were held in place by brooches made with precious stones. Stick pins were de rigeur from the 17th through the 19th centuries. In the early half of the 20th century, tie pins and clips became more popular.In the 19th century, silk ties were made of a single piece of silk and folded seven ways to provide thickness. Today, ties are made of three individual pieces of the same material and derive their thickness from an inner lining. The higher the wool content, the better the tie.Another clue to a high-class tie is to turn it over and examine the back. A stitch adjoining the two sides of the inverted "v" should be visible. Called the bar tack, this helps maintain the tie's shape. In addition, if you open the back of the tie up as far as possible, a loose black thread should be visible. This is called the slip stitch. The tie moves along this thread while retaining its shape when it is wrapped around your neck. If you pull on the slip stitch, the tie should gather. This is the mark of a handmade, quality tie.The invention of such new materials as Rayon, Dacron and Polyester, would be used by themselves, or as blends with natural material, to make ties longer lasting, wrinkle-free and easier to care for. Tips on how to care for your tie: Let water spots on silk ties dry and then rub it briskly with the same fabric. For hard to remove stains, hold the spot over the steam from a boiling kettle and apply cleaning fluid. Ties can be dry cleaned, but make sure your cleaner is experienced with ties. Ties made of synthetic material might be washable. When ironing ties, make certain the roll along the tie edge is not pressed flat. Always hang your ties on a rack, except knitted or crochet ties, which should be rolled and stored in a drawer. Give your ties at least two or three days rest before wearing them again to allow wrinkles to hang out. Always unknot your ties when taking it off. Never slip it over your head. Do not unravel the knot by pulling on the small end. Always reverse the knot itself. Do not make your knots too tight.