The Art of the Tie - An Unlikely Symbol of Self-Expression

Once the standard for the working class and bourgeoisie alike, there’s one accessory seeing a rebrand: ties.

Before everyone’s favourite queer supergroup, Boygenius, hit the Grammys red carpet and before Little Simz took flight on her ‘NO THANK YOU’ tour, ties have a long-standing history as a staple, if not the staple of menswear. In the early 17th century, Croatian mercenaries became the first to wear kerchiefs (from the old French ‘couvrechief’ meaning ‘head cover’) around their necks in an effort to help their wives distinguish them amidst the mud and blood of the battlefield. Shortly after, Louis XIV inspected these mercenaries’ uniforms and incorporated them into his daily wear. Some sources say it was when he was just seven years old in 1646, while others claim it was not until 1660. French nobility adapted cravats not long after to replace the bland and uncomfortable ruffles that had been the standard before the rest of Europe jumped on the trend. By the end of the century, they were ubiquitous. 

Soldiers continued at the forefront of their evolution. In 1715, they devised a leather collar laced at the back which became known as a ‘stock’, a reminder for the wearer to hold their head high. Some decades later, ascots and bowties emerged as variations for casual daytime and formal evening wear, respectively. The Industrial Revolution marked an unlikely turning point for ties. By this point, neckwear had become a staple of day-to-day fashion. But as factories and mills opened, ties now needed to be easier to wear, more durable, and better suited for the harsh environments. Thus, the modern-day long necktie emerged.

Further variations of the tie have been the result of personal style and changing trends. Early Hollywood stars paired high-waisted trousers with short ties before bold patterns became commonplace in the 1960s and 1990s. More recently, indie-punk poet Pete Doherty, frontman of The Libertines, donned a skinny and raggedly worn tie just after the turn of the 21st century. Today, designers from Valentino to Louis Vuitton seem keen to reinstate ties not just as a meaningless, conformist accessory but as a centrepiece of fashion itself. In their surprise Fall 2024 collection, Yves Saint Laurent utilised the tie as a statement piece, refreshing the 80s yuppie office look for the modern man. Conversely, Botter juxtaposed bold ties against streetwear-orientated looks in their own collection.

Similarly, Eva Lynn aims for androgyny in her choice of clothing. She is most inspired by 1980s fashion and its historical roots. “A lot of 80s fashion drew from Victorian and Edwardian fashion,” she says. “Not only that, but a lot of alternative subcultures in that era wore clothing directly from the Blitz. Kids gathered clothes from the 1940s because that’s just what was available to them in second hand shops”. One of the most notable of these subcultures, and one which particularly inspires Eva, Is the New Romantics. Their style was defined by flamboyant and eccentric looks, with the wearer often appearing lavish and historic. Adam Ant, a seminal figure of the movement, was largely influenced by traditional military uniform and highwaymen of old. As such, he opted to wear traditional ascots and stocks on top of large flowing shirts, not unlike the soldiers who pioneered and adapted the art of the tie.