neckcloth

1. (historical) An ornamental cravat, usually white.Examples: "[…] I did remember I had among the Seamens Cloaths which were sav’d out of the Ship, some Neckcloaths of Callicoe or Muslin; and with some Pieces of these I made three small Sieves, but proper enough for the Work […]"; "1720, John Gay, “Tuesday; or, the Ditty” in Poems on Several Occasions, London: H. Lintot, R. Tonson & S. Draper, 1745, Volume I, p. 85, Will she thy linen wash or hosen darn, And knit thee gloves made of her own-spun yarn? Will she with huswife’s hand provide thy meat, And ev’ry Sunday morn thy neckcloth plait? Which o’er thy kersey doublet spreading wide, In service time drew Cic’ly’s eyes aside."; "He was a man of such rigid refinement, that he would have starved rather than have dined without a white neck-cloth."historical