Regularity and proportion are the essentials of every art.
In a beautiful landscape we are occasionally delighted with the knotted and bent trunk of the majestic oak; but the correct and beautiful proportion of a Grecian column (even in ruins) rivets our attention and excites our wonder and admiration.
The Cravate Mathématique is a combination of symmetry and regularity—the style is grave and severe, and the slightest wrinkle is strictly prohibited. The ends should be geometrically correct, and must bear examination even by the aid of a compass; they should descend obliquely from each side, and form two acute angles in crossing—all the folds in a horizontal direction, forming the two acute and opposite angles of a triangle, which the Mathématique must always strictly represent.
Black is generally worn, and is made either of taffeta or Levantine.
A whalebone stiffener is requisite.