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The two garments associated with Eton College and the classic suits named for the school were short black jackets and large stiff white collars. The collar is one of the most destinguishabe features of the Eton suit, but certainly looks uncomfortable. The Eton school uniform had a small, short black jacket. Thus the classic Eton suit involved a similar jacket. We notice boys wearing a variety of suit jackes with Eton collars. Some such as Norgolk jackets are obviously not Eton suits, but others without destinctive styling might be considered an Eton suit. Boys at Eton school wore vests with their school uniform. Upper classmen were allowed destinctive bright-colored vess. Thus Eton suits were made with vests, normlly black vests matching the jacket. Eton suits might be worn without vests, byt many had vests. The classic Eton school uniform was worn with long grey pants. The classic grey English school short pants probably owe their color to the grey Eton school pants. Actual Eton suits not associated with schools more commonly had black pants matching the jacket. While clasic Eton suits were almost always worn with long pants, some English prep schools before World War I (1914-18) adopted short pants to be worn with the Eton
syule-school uniforms.
The short Eton jacket was worn with a large stiff white collar. The collar is one of the most destinguishabe features of the Eton suit, but certainly looks uncomfortable. One correspondent reports:
I was at a boot sale last summer. (Boot sales are an outdoor sale where people sell unwanted goods from their cars. I believe you Americans call them garage sales.) I happened upon some old Eton collars, plainly marked so on the inside. They were only size fourteen and a half but very wide and stiffly starched. I tried one about my neck and imagined what a penance it would be to have to wear all day and everyday - very irksome and confining.
The Eton school uniform had a small, short black jacket. Thus the classic Eton suit involved a similar jacket. Thevmodern Eton jackets worn by small boys do not have lapels. The cklaaic Eton jacket did have lapels. We notice examples from the 19th century that have lapels. A good example are two London boys in the 1850s. We notice boys wearing a variety of suit jackes with Eton collars. Some such as Norfolk jackets are obviously not Eton suits, but others without destinctive styling might be considered an Eton suit. There are no actual rules here and readers might disagree on this. We think thsat the black color is very important. Unless the jacket and pants are black, probably the outfit cannot be considered an Eton suit. Here we welcome readers insights who might know more about this. We notice boys from different countries over time wearing short black jackets. A goog exanple is Swiss boys in the 1840s. We are not positive yet, however, that these were correctly identified as Eton jackets.
Boys at Eton school wore vests with their school uniform. A British reader writes, "It may be useful to some readers to note that where you mention vests all others, bar Americans, would refer to them as Waistcoats; vests being a sleeveless undergarment sometimes worn for PE or athletics. Especially so as you are referencing items of English origin on this page." Apparently the junior boys had grey or black vests. A good example are two London boys in the 1850s. We are not sure if they are Eton boys. Other public schools had similar uniforms. Upper classmen were allowed destinctive bright-colored vess. Thus Eton suits were made with vests, normlly black vests matching the jacket. Eton suits might be worn without vests, but many had vests.
The classic Eton school uniform was worn with long grey pants. This contrasted with rather than matching the black jacket. A good example is two London boys in the 1850s. The classic grey English school short pants probably owe their color to the grey Eton school pants. Actual Eton suits not associated with schools more commonly had black pants matching the jacket. While clasic Eton suits were almost always worn with long pants, some English prep schools before World War I (1914-18) adopted short pants to be worn with the Eton
style-school uniforms.
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