QUEENSLAND men just don't seem ready to stick their necks out for the sake of fashion.

The humble, albeit formal, cravat allegedly is making a comeback, yet the streets of Brisbane are oddly devoid of the foppishly fantastique fashion statement.

Some of the biggest Hollywood stars are leading this worldwide revival. Well . . . that is if you listen to Australia's cravat rat Matt Preston.

The MasterChef master zeitgeist, fresh from knotting up Rove McManus on Sunday night, told The Courier-Mail about the trend sweeping the world since his appearances on the hit cooking show.

"I don't want to say anything, but since we started doing this show, there have been pictures on the wires of Ashton Kutcher wearing a cravat, David Beckham wearing a cravat, Brad Pitt on 60 Minutes wearing a loosely tied ascot," joked Preston, who is renowned for his brightly coloured dapper suits, animal-print winklepickers and a collection of about 90 cravats.

But when we went to the Queen Street Mall one lunch hour this week to see if the Preston trend had taken root, we were disappointed (or perhaps secretly pleased).

Even on a chilly mist-begone winter morn, Brisbane men have not embraced the esophagus embellishment. No ascots from Ascot, no ruche from Ruchedale, no cravats from Mt Cravat.
One of the few places we found stocking cravats was the Tie Rack in the Myer Centre.

Saleswomen Angie Budzevski and Mary Tham said they ordered in stock from Victoria.

"The customers I have spoken to have been mid to late 20s," Ms Budzevski said, displaying the store's limited range, which sell for about $50 each.

"A lot of them have been attending formal functions and have wanted to wear something a bit different."

Preston, who began wearing cravats when he was about 17, said they need not be considered formal wear. "The cravat can be dressed any way," he said.

"Rove, I thought, looked incredibly dapper wearing Pauline.

"Suddenly it added a certain touch of class about him and I thought he wore it very well."
Pauline? Yep . . . Preston's cravats all have individual names.

There's Lyn, Michelle and Roz, The Gentleman, The Brigadier and The General, then there's Uncle Monty inspired by Richard Griffiths in Withnail And I.

"It is an ever building collection and they have to have names otherwise I wouldn't know which one to wear," said Preston, who sources them from vintage and retro shops as well as high-end stores and the internet.

"Some came from an op shop outside Brisbane. When I was last there I picked up three."
After we couldn't find any in stock in DJ's or the Preston-esque Menswear By Toucan with its lurid '80s coloured jackets and trilbies, we tried the St Vinnies store in the city.

Again we got that polite shake of the head.

Sorry, Mr Preston, your show may have inspired Queenslanders to flock back to their kitchens, but your fashion sense hasn't quite grabbed us by the throats just yet.