You can spend enough time reading about men’s fashion and one of the subject will be the cravat. Cravat may refer to all ties. Ascots are more informal. There are cravat that are not ascots, bow ties or ties.
This term of cravat is the original form of neckwear. From cravat, ties and bow ties have evolved. It is the style of King Louis XIV that was adopted from Croatian mercenaries. The ascot is a type of cravat, and like tie and bow tie has evolved from different form of cravat during 19th century.
The term of ascot comes from Royal Ascot horse race, and men wear a looser cravat in the morning, so the ascot is a kind of day cravat. It is less formal and it is tied under collar. When someone says cravat, we can think of ascot, or other forms of cravat ties, as the first is tied with a tie and the second like an ascot, but over collar.
One of the biggest problem with the ascot-cravat vocabulary is represented by ascots which are the only cravat style with their own unique name. Well, in some persons’ minds, ascots are synonymous with cravats. So they often use both and confuse them. So please, bear in mind that all ascots are cravats, but not all cravats are ascots.
The cravat is used at the end of 16th century and is called also a neckcloth that can be changeable to minimize the soiling of a doublet. The cravats were initially worn to hide shirts which were not very clean. The cravat came to Western Europe in the 17th century from Croatian mercenaries.
The modern Cravat Day has an origin of similarly mixed cultural-commercial flavor. There are day or casual cravat, ascot cravat and wedding cravat, as main types of cravats. The casual or day cravat is for a cravat worn informally, and is tucked into an open shirt collar, and it is opposed to a wedding cravat. A day cravat is a self-tie and had a neckstrap with clip fasteners. The ascot cravat is the American term for day cravat.
The wedding cravat is like a tie with a scrunched knot. The traditional wedding cravat has two flaps of fabric folded one on top of the other and held with a cravat pin. A plain colored cravat is used in the traditional weddings, too. As things are more casual today, the ascot is a way to not look sloppy, and a great alternative if someone does not like tight collars around neck and want a much dressier and more relaxed outfits.
So we think we clarify about differences between ascot and cravat, the men who are wearing these pieces of clothing are the ones that may tell you more about them, about their preferences for one of them, or if they use both of them, of course for different occasions, and what is important to know about cravats and ascots.
