Eli5: Why suits have ties?
In: 1
Cover hideous buttons and prior to the collars we have today a tie would hold the neckline on a shirt together because old collars are ridiculously made.
Well they were created at first to tie down the neck of your shirt and from then it became fashion
Suits don’t have ties. If you buy or have a suit made, they do not come with a tie.
There’s a social convention that you wear a tie when wearing a suit, but, again, that’s not “required” or anything like that.
With that said, I did inquire about this when buying some dress clothes, and the very nice lady told me “Darling, it’s for adding a splash of colour to your otherwise drab outfit.”
Basically, it’s a fashion thing.
A few hundred years in the past, [Croatian mercenary soldiers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Kravat_pukovnija_Trg_sv_Marka_2_18102012_roberta_f.jpg) serving in France wore sort of a scarf around their necks as a part of the uniform. French nobility thought it looked good so they started wearing something similar, which started a fashion trend. And so throughout the years it became a common part of formal clothing.
French word for a tie is “cravat” which stems from “Croat”.
They don’t necessarily. Some suits (like those with nehru collars) are not worn with ties. Other suits are worn with ascots or scarves rather than a tie. It depends on the situation, the level of formality needed for the occasion the suit is being worn at, and the construction of the suit itself…not to mention the fashion of the day.
Ties are soup catchers so you don’t need to wash the dress shirt, also ties reduce the chance of stains on the shirt. Oops, spilled something on the tie, change it out.
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