The cravat () is a neckband, the forerunner of the modern tailored necktie and bow tie, originating from a style worn by members of the 17th century military unit known as the Croats. The modern British "cravat" is called an "ascot" in American English.

From the end of the sixteenth century, the term band applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a ruff. The ruff, a starched, pleated white linen strip, originated earlier in the sixteenth century as a neckcloth (readily changeable, to minimize the soiling of a doublet), as a bib, or as a napkin. A band could be either a plain, attached shirt collar, or a detachable "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar. It is possible that initially, cravats were worn to hide soil on shirts.