National Necktie Day has been celebrated on October 18 since 2008, when it was recognized as an official holiday by the Croatian Parliament. It is mostly celebrated in Croatia, the United Kingdom, and France, but festive events are also held in many major cities around the world. The holiday originates from Croatia because it’s the place, where the necktie was born.

The predecessor to the modern necktie were silk neckerchiefs, worn by Croatian soldiers during the Thirty Years’ War (1618 to 1648) as neck protectors. The French called these traditionally knotted neckerchiefs “cravats”, referring to the French word Croates.

The Croatian neckerchief or cravat was popularized in France when King Louis XIV began wearing a lace cravat. The fashion spread quickly among Parisian nobility, and soon men and women wore cravats. By the mid-19th century, the cravat looked more like the neckties of today. In Britain wearing a necktie was elevated to high art where an English gentleman could tie his tie in almost one hundred different knots.

National Necktie Day is a popular holiday in Croatia and is celebrated with great zeal across the country. Students attend school wearing their best ties and the men put aside their traditional blue and black ties and embrace funky and colorfully patterned ties for the day.

12 FUN FACTS ABOUT NECKTIES

1. A person who is a necktie enthusiast and collects neckties is called a ‘grabatologist.’
2. Every year, Americans spend approximately $1 billion to purchase 100 million ties
3. Neckties are the most gifted item on Father’s Day
4. Making a quality silk tie requires approximately 100 silkworms
5. The biggest manufacturer of neckties in the world is in Shengzhou, China
6. Seventeenth-century neckties were made with chainmail as protection for the neck
7. There are 177,147 different ways to tie a necktie
8. Usually, stripes on American ties go from the top right to the bottom left, whereas British tie stripes run from the top left to the bottom right
9. At one point in history, touching another person’s tie meant that you wanted a duel or fight
10. During the 17th century, the English designed a tie from chainmail that a sword couldn’t cut through
11. The world’s most expensive tie cost $220,000 and was made of pure silk and 261 diamonds by Indian designer Satya Paul for the Mumbai fashion show in 2004
12. The average number of ties in a man’s wardrobe in the U.S. is 7

Green Carbon 2112 Necktie Design Collections