Plural of cravat; neckties or scarves worn around the neck, often made of fabric and tied in various styles.
From French 'cravate,' derived from 'Croate' (Croatian), referring to Croatian soldiers who wore distinctive scarves in the 17th century. The style became fashionable in Western Europe after Louis XIV admired them, and the term stuck for any similar neck adornment.
The modern necktie owes its existence to Croatian fashion—European nobility saw soldiers from Croatia wearing these colorful scarves and thought they looked so cool that the style spread across courts and became a status symbol!
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