neckcloth or neckerchief, at first of lawn folded and wrapped about the neck with colored ribbon used to tie the ends in place; later refined to one end overlapping the other
A cravat is a piece of folded cloth which a man wears wrapped around his neck. a wide piece of loosely folded material that men wear around their necks tie (cravate, from Cravate ; from the scarves worn by 17th-century Croatian soldiers)