Figure 1.--The soft collar that became the standard for boys' wear in the 1920s. This boy wears a stripped dress shirt.

The standard soft collars generally worn by boys today became accepted in the 1920s, replacing the Eton collars commonly worn at the beginning of the century. Over time there have been many inovations worn by both men and boys, such as tabs, pins, and the most enduring, button downs. Some shirt inovations for men have not carried over to boys' shirts collars. The British fasgion of white collars on colored stripped shirts is little seen on boys' shirts. Incidentally one of the most influential taylor is Thomas Pink of London and probably the origin of the English phrase "in the pink". The company now has a wide range of colors available, but most boys' dress shirts are still white or since the 1950s, blue. School boys in England, however, often continue to wear gray shirts for everyday wear.