You can blame the French for the tie. They used it as a symbol of command chain in the Baroque era. It used to be huge and just be around your neck, hanging/sticking out to the side. Then, the intelligent Poles (called crevates by the French) started tucking these into their shirts/vests/coats so that it wasn't a distraction on the field of battle. This became all the rage in Versailles, where the bourgeois started wearing neck fashion the same way. Thus, the beginning of the tie. The British saw this, and of course made it simpler and more complex all at the same time! Yeah for the bastardization of things material.
