Louis XIV spied the cravat

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Louis XIV spied the cravat on Balkan mercenaries having assisted France in conquering the Ottoman Turks.

American Heritage says:
« NOUN: A scarf or band of fabric worn around the neck as a tie.
ETYMOLOGY: French cravate, necktie worn by Croatian mercenaries in the service of France, from Cravate, a Croatian, from German dialectal Krabate, from Serbo-Croatian Hrvt. »

A necktie to this day in German is « Die Kravatte »