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Many boys after World War I wore a style of wide, open collars. The style in fact appeared during the 1910s, but was mych more widely worn in the 1920s. It was not only worn for casual wear, but someboys wore it with their suit as well when dressing up. The style was known as the Schiller Collar. This was not a term commonly used in English. Rather it is a translation of the German term Schillerkragen. One source indicates, "And for the past century or so, the Schillerkragen--"Schiller's collar"--has been Germany's equivalent of the "Byron collar." Both poets translated their love of freedom into an open collar-the original sports shirt." Here we are a little confused. Byron and Schiller were contemporaries. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) and Byron were contempraries and both were important romantic poets. The open collar style for which they were noted was popular in the early 19th century. It was, however, little seen again until after the 20th century. We note some German boys wearing them in the 1910s, but especially after World War I in the 1920s. It was also worn in other countries. In America it was known as a sports collar. We do not know who first revived the style. We are unsure about terms in other countries.
Many boys after World War I wore a style of wide, open collars. Some boys tried to wear them with a tie, but they were made to be worn open. A German reader tells us, "The definiton of the Schiller Kragen (Schiller collar) is, a wide white turned-over collar reminding of the collars of
the Biedermeier, open at the front.
This collar is part of the after World War I fashion reform giving children more
freedom and sporty clothing. The collar was first introduced by the Wandervogel movement."
A German reader tells us that Schiller collars were always white. It is certainly true that most of the Schiller collars we have seen have been white. I'm not sure about the proportions, but would estimate more than 90 percent of the Schiller collrs we have seem have been white. We have seen, however, some colored shirts that look like Schiller collars to us. We are not sure about the colors involved because of the black and white photograohy of the time. We note one unidentified boy about 1935 that looks to be wearing a colored Schiller collar. It is difficult to tell from the portrait, however, if it is definitely a Schiller collar. Our German reader writes, "It is difficult to say where the Schiller collar starts and ends. If Schiller is the model it should be white. I think the Schiller collar is
more a thing of the 1910s and 1920s, especially because the idea behind
it does not fit in NAZI times." She maintins tht these colored shirts may be in the Schiller-style, but are not true Schiller collars.
I am not sure when the Schiller collar first appeared. We note it being widely worn by German boys in the 1910s and 20s. It is a good examole of the more casual, practical approach to children's clothing appearing in the early 20th century. School portraits show that the style was was very popular in both decades. We note a commercial postcard mailed in 1918 showing a German boy wearing a shirt with a Schiller collar and Lederhosen. The Schiller collar was much more prominent after World War I in the 1920s. The collar is a good example of the informality in dress that is often associated with World War I and the post-War era. A German reader tells us, "In the mid-1920s my grandfather wore such a collar at the age about 10. Here in Germany we have three very famous boys choir and one of the still wears today a Schiller collar. It's the "Dresdner Kreuzchor".
I think the popularity of Schiller collar declined in the 1930s. A German reader tells us, "The idea of the free Schiller-collar does not fit in NAZI times." She believes that by the 1930s the popularity of the Schiller collar had largely passed and that the open collars seen in the 30s were Schiller-like collars, but not true Schiller collars.
We do not yet, however, a complete chronology.
We at first thought that in Europe this was a style primarily for older boys, but in Germany we note boys of all ages wearing them. It seems to have been more of a style for younger boys in America. This was a boy or youth's style. We see boys of all ages wearing them, both primary and secondary students. They also may have been worn by university students. We do not note adults common wearing shirts with Schiller collars.
A German reader tells us, "It seems at first the collar was popular with the Wandervogel movement but later became part of children fashion in general. The Wandervogel was a German youth movement especially noted for their interest in poetry and Schiller would hasve been a favorite. An open collar shirt would have been practical for outdoor activities like hiking.
The conventions for wearing the Schiller collar varied. The collar appeared at a time when dress styles were becoming more informal. While the Schiller collar was as an open collar and thus as casual style, it was not only worn for casual wear. Many boys wore Schiller collar shirts with their suit as well when dressing up. We see boys wearing just a shirt with an open Schiller collar on warm days. We also note Schiller collars being worn with sweaters and suit jackets. While the Schiller collar was an informal style, some mothers were still strongly influenced by the more formal styles of the late 19th century and very early 20th century. Some did not quite accept such informality. Thus we see some mothers when the Schiller collar first appeared attempting to add formal touches. We note a few boys wearing dickies. American mothers sometimes added ties. This was less common in Germany.
The style was known as the Schiller Collar in Germany. This was not a term commonly used in English. Rather it is a translation of the German term Schillerkragen. One source indicates, "And for the past century or so, the Schillerkragen--"Schiller's collar"--has been Germany's equivalent of the "Byron collar." Both poets translated their love of freedom into an open collar-the original sports shirt." Here we are a little confused. Byron and Schiller were contemporaries. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) and Byron were contempraries and both were important romantic poets. The open collar style for which they were noted was popular in the early 19th century. It was, however, little seen again until after the 20th century.
The Schiller Collar was worn in other countries. In America it was known as a sports collar. We do not know who first revived the style. We are unsure about terms in other countries. We are unsure at tis time in which country it first appeared.
Shirts with Schiller collars were made by quite a number of manufacturers. Thus we see these shirts with a variety of stylistic variations. There were as best I can determine three basic features. One, there was no collar button because it was to be worn open. I have seen American bithers ad ties anyway, but it is clear that there was no collar button. Two, the collars were pointed. Three, the collar was quite large. Some extended more than half way to the shouldee. Here there were variations as we have seen collars of various size.
The Schiller collars we have noted in Germany mostly had pointed collars. We have also noted rounded collars that were worn open just as sports collars in America. We notice a few collars with rounded tips also worn open, but this was much less common. An example here is the Gersich family about 1917. I don't think, however, this would be considered a Schiller collar. Most of the rounded collars we have seen were worn buttoned.
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