Figure 1.--These German brothers were all dressed alike with Schiller collars and knee pants suits. Note that mother has added a dickey like the ones worn with sailor suits to give their outfits a more formal look. The portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the early 1910s. A reader, however, writes, "Schiller collars appear after World War I. So I think this portrait was more likely taken in the 1920s." Another reader writes about the dating of this portrait, "Notice that the trousers are very long, considerably below the knee. This style was not favored in Germany during the 1920s. I think it must be a decade or so earlier."

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.

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Created: 4:09 PM 2/26/2006
Last updated: 5:08 AM 4/29/2008