Figure 1.--Boys' collars in the mid-19th Century took many shape, including ruffles. They were, however, generally quite small and usually not very elaborate. They stand out from the much larger collars worn earlier and later in the decade. |
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Boys over the ages have worn a variety of shirt collars. Sometimes just like their dads. Other times there were special juvenile styles. Collars were often worn open, especially by younger boys in the early 19th century. Gradually as the century progressed buttoned collars became more common. By the end of the 19th century, several collar styles were worn with bows, in some cases large floppy bows. These large bows were particularly prevelent in America.
The boys collars has varied substantially over time. Boys' collars like men's collars rise and fall with fashion trends. The widths and shapes of collars have fluctuated with neckwear trends. Collars in the mid-19th century tended to be very small. This contrasted with the very large collars worn in the late-19th century. The huge floppy bows worn in the late-19th century rather overwealmed all but the largest collars. In some eras, boys' collars were identical or similar to men's collars, such as 18th Century jabots or moddern buttondowns. In other times they were different, such as sailor collars and Fauntleroy lace collats. Another important collar was the Eton collars worn in the late 19th and early 20th century. These were detachable collars. After World war I boys normally wore shirts with attached collars.
Shirts and waists for boys by the mid-19th century had collars or went up to the neckline. We notice a variety of garments for younger boys in the early 19th century that had low necklines without any kind of collar. These outfits included dresses, blouses, and skeleton suits and were worn bu boys both beforte and after breaching. Generally boys wore these low-neckline garments up to about age 6 years, although we hasve seen older boys wearing them, especially boys that had not yet been breached. A good example here is an unidentified American boy who had his portait painted in a skeleton suit, probably in the 1810s. We also note unidentified English children probably in the 1810s-20s.
The modern reader may not realize that in the 19th and early 20th century, many shirts came with detachable collars. This was an innovation adopted in the early 19th century, surprisingly in America. Most fashion innovation in the 19th century came from Europe. The detachable collar was invented in 1827 by an American housewife. By mid-century the detachable collar had become quite widespread for dress shirts. This was especially the case with Eton collars, an English fashion which became a staple for boys' wear. Detachable collars were an important labor saving device. Housewives had to wash an entire shirt when it was primarily the collar that wore out. Often the collar of a shirt wore out while the rest of the shirt was still serviceable.
One topic we are not yet sure about is pin-on collars. We are not-entirely sure about the terminology here. We know that lace collars were often not part of a blouse or shirt waist ad pinned on to the boys jacket or woirn over it, An example is an unidentified Chicago boy. We are less sure about other collars such as large whitet collars. This is a topic we need to pursue in more detail. We think that other collars may have been worn on top of jackets in the late 19th and early 20th century. We note boys weating collars that do not seem to be part of blouses. An example here is an American boy, Charles Banthrop. We are, however, not really sure about this yet. We note fancy bib-like collars for babies in a Swiss 1919 mail-order catalog. The German-language catalog called Lätzil or Bavette.
The most elaborate collar was the ruffs worn my men and boys as well as women in the 16th century. A ruff was a neckpeace more than a collar. I was not attcahed
to any shirt-like garment. It was made of lace, lawn, or other fabric. It was gathered or drawn into deep, full, symetrical folds. It was very popuar with men and
women in the 16th century. Given the cost it woyld be primarly affluent people who wore them.
Boys' fashions have included a wide variety of collar styles. The collar was one one of the most important features of boyhood clothes. It was use as an age differentiation accessory. A boy might wear a ruffled collar and large bow with a suit, but then to show his growing maturioy wear the same suit with an Eton cvollar. It is now much less common. Important collar styles have included: buttoned down, Eton, lace, Peter Pan, Pilgrim, ruffled, sailor and many others. Many of these styles have persisted for long periods. Some have evolved from military styles. Some have been worn by girls and women, while others have evolved from men's styles. Some have been first worn by boys and then appropriated for girls' wear. Some of these collars, especially Etons were detachable collars, others always worn as an integral part of a shirt or blouse.
A dickey (alternativeky spelled "dickie") is a garment that looks like the front of a collar or shirt, but is worn as a separate garment. There are many different types of dickies. Some were just small front pieces. Others were jacket like vests. Others were "T"-shirt like garments or turtle-neck shirts for cold weather wear. The dickie most associated with boys' wear is the sailorsuit dickie, but other dickies have also been worn and children's dickies are still available. They modern dickies are primarily worn for cold weather. An example is a knitted dickie which is a collar piece extending just down enough to serve as a kind of scarve. Some are done like sleeveless weaters. Dickies were also used as ceremonial dress by military units. This was of course not common for boys' wear, but may have been used by some youth groups.
Fashion advisors maintain that collars are "strategic frames" for the face. Most fashion experts report that for the best results, collars should be matched to theindividual's bone structure and neck size. Individuals with a narrow face look best with a high collar of moderate spread. Such individuals should avoid long collars worn with narrow ties. Individuals with a broad face and full neck look best in a low collar just covering the collar bone. Such individuals look good with regular or straight point collars. Of course mothers often have chosen collars that correspond to popular fashions rather thjan those that are best suited to theie sons.
A shirt expert suffests that when selecting a shirt, the collar size should be measured just below the Adam's Apple with one finger slipped inside the tape. This results in a smart look with a collar that is firm on the neck, but very comfortable.
We have begun to collect individual country pages describing country trends. So far we have pages on America, England, France, and Germany. There are of course many similarities, but we notice some destinctive national features.
Collars were commonly used in the late 19th century as age specific clothing. Thus as a boy got older the style of the collar he wore with his suit changed significantly with his age. As a boy grew older he progressed to different styles of both suit and collar. This was common through much of the 19th and early 20th century. The conventions here were widely accepted in America and throughout Europe. There were some differences in the collar styles popuklar in different countries and over time. We note that some boys wore the same suit for several years, but the type of collar and neckwear was changed as he got older. There are numerous examples of this archived on HBC. We note other conventions such as the buttoning the collar even when not wearing neckwear.
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