Hrvat

During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Croatian mercenaries serving in France wore distinctive knotted neckcloths as part of their uniform. The French, always attentive to fashion, noticed these scarves and were captivated. They called the style à la croate ('in the Croatian manner'), which became cravate.

The word Hrvat (Хрват) is the Croatian word for 'Croat'—the name of the people themselves. Through French phonetic adaptation, Hrvat became croate, then cravate, and the ethnic name became a fashion term. An entire people were reduced to a piece of neckwear.

Louis XIV, the Sun King, was reportedly so taken with the Croatian neckcloth style that he made it a required accessory at court. When the king of France endorses a fashion, it becomes permanent. The cravat spread across European courts and became the ancestor of the modern necktie.

English borrowed cravat from French in the 1650s. Over the next three centuries, the cravat evolved into increasingly narrow and formalized forms—the stock, the ascot, and finally the modern necktie. The functional scarf that Croatian soldiers wore against the cold became a purely decorative strip of silk with no practical purpose whatsoever.