---
title: "Cravat"
description: "A cravat is a band or scarf of fabric tied around the neck, the ancestor of the modern necktie."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/cravat
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Cravat

*A cravat is a band or scarf of fabric tied around the neck, the ancestor of the modern necktie.*

The cravat is traditionally linked to Croatian soldiers whose neckcloths caught French attention in the seventeenth century; the name is thought to come from the word for Croat. By the Regency it was a starched linen neckcloth tied in elaborate knots.


## Sources

1. [Cravat (AAT 300210059)](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300210059). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
2. [Cravat (Q3245189)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3245189). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/cravat