Evening star., 1925-08-20
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Having considered mems clothes ir
general. we take up today the eterna.
lure of the bow tie.
Few men there are but have
wrestled, at some time or other, with
bow tie.
1t is a small but fascinating ar
ticle of wearing apparel, one thai
combines the charm of beauty and
the snappiness of vogue with the
elusiveness of the devil.
Before considering the bow in de
tail, perhaps we should explain tc
the palpitating public that there are
in the main, two great classes OF
mems ties. They are:
/. The four-in-han
2. The bow.
The four-in-hand (also the term TO
four horses driven by one mani Il
more or less synonymous nowaday:
with the word cravat. This latter
originally meant a Croat, an inhabi
tant of Croatia
AS applied to the ornamental piece
of cloth wrapped around the male hu
man neck, the cravat got its name
from a body of Austrian troops who
in 1885, adopted this form of neck
wear.
France, ready then as now, to SCI
the fashion, adopted this puffy type
of neck covering. Today its sue
cessor, the ubiquitous four-in-hand
divides the honors of the masculine
neck with the bow, with d rather
larger proportion of the honors.
Perhaps three out OF four men to-
day wear the tie tied in a slip knot
hanging down the manly chest or
stuffed in the vest in Winter. II
comes in a thousand shades. the
most glaring Of which are annually
bought up by good wives for their
good husbands at Christmas time.
Yes. Santa Claus has much to an
swer for.
X *
Before we get down to tying the
bow tie, however, or attempting to,
we must not forget the stock.
This form of neckwear was sort
of enormous four-in-hand popular
around the year 1898 and some time
afterward.
Look back through the photograph
album and you will find any number
Of pompous looking boys in their first
long trousers, their necks swathed
in the layers of the stock.
They wore Iron hats" (derbies) of
a peculiar small size and brim, mostly
nStu IHelT HdlT parted neatly III the
middle, depending thence in long
waves upon the forehead, and in
Winter affected raglan overcoats.
The stock today is to be found only
in the country districts, and not very
often even there. 1t was a hot, un-
comfortable kind of neck dress, its
only appeal being that of white
neatness.
Right here it may be stated, once
and for all, that the whole question
of why men imagine they must have
something around their necks is
shrouded in the deepest mystery.
There Is no earthly reason for
neckties of any kind. Women never
adopted them, and to their hare
necks physicians attribute much of
their freedom from colds. sore throat
and even pneumonia.
Men, on the other hand-or per
haps 1t should be written other neck
have always felt the necessity for
something to hide their Adams apple.
If that is not the real reason for
neck covering. I miss my guess.
Women also possess the so-called
Adams apple, but Nature, having
been somewhat kinder to them than
to men in this respect, has covered
the ugly bit of cartilege with a COW
ering of fat.
Her playfellows, however, have
had to struggle along through life
with the Adams apple bobbing up
and down at every swallow and at
every spoken word.
It was more than they could stand.
So they took to the collar and tie.