I was board out of my head and for some reason I got to thinking of the fifties style holidays to the seaside.The picture I got was the moustached man trousers rolled up, sitting on the deck chair with the hankie, Knots tied at the four corners, on the baldy heid.
comic image,
So after pissing about on tit tinternet it turns out that this was probably the original use for the hanky.

A kerchief (from the French couvre-chef, "cover the head") is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head or around the neck for protective or decorative purposes. The popularity of head kerchiefs may vary by culture or religion, as among Amish women, Orthodox Jewish women, Muslim women, and older Slavic women.

From which we get "handkerchief" or "hanky" primarily refers to a napkin made of cloth, used to dab away perspiration, clear the nostrils, From the Kerchief we also get Bandannas.
Bandannas are worn as a practical garment by certain bloggers with pirate aspirations.

The stange thing about it is it was originally a feminine thing...oh I can just see it a Royal Ascot on Ladies Day ''I wonder what colour the Queens knotted hanky will be'' Na, I don't think so!