Figure 1.--Here we see three brothers with the family pooch. The boys all wear Eton suits. The boy all look to be about 2-7 years old. The older boy wears a lighter-shade suit, but other tham that the only major difference is the collars on their blouses. The youngesr boy wears a collar that looks like an Eton collar without a necktie, the other boys just wear pointed collars and with neckties It looks kike the 1930s to us, bt all we know for sure is that they lived in Georgia.

These junior Eton suits were mostly associted with Eton looking collars, but we also see Peter Pan collars as well as oher collars including sports collars and regular shirt collars popular during the many decdes the suits were worn. Give the age range of these suits, many boys wore them with blouses, but they were aiso worn with shirts. Blouses were still common for boys in the 1920s, but still worn by younger boys even at mid-century. The classic Eton collar was a detchable collar. We see these suits after World War II in the 1920s when the detachable collar was going out of style, but had not yet disappeared. Many Eton suit were worn with Eton shaped collars, but thy seem to be blouses with attched collars, not detachable collars. Putting stiff detachable collars on younger boys by the 1920s was not very common as more and more concessions wre made to infirmlity, especually for younger children. .

Blouses

The younger boys wearing Eton suits generally wore blouses rather than shirts. Shirt tails were not deemed necessary for younger boys. The early Eton suits were generally worn with scaled-down Eton collars. Soon more comfortable-looking Peter Pan collars replaced the stiff Eton collars formerly worn by British boys. However, a few American boys were still wearing Eton-looking collars as late as the late 1930s and early 1940s. Gradually the Peter Pan collars became the most popular. Many Eton suits were also worn with normal soft, but never button-down collars. The collar, whatever the style, always folded down over the jacket.

Shirts

Older boys wearing an American Eton suit might wear a regular shirt with it. Commonly boys wearing shirts wore them with bowties, although some boys did wear regular neckties. In recent years regular shirts have become more common than blouses.

Collars

The classic Eton collar was a setchable collar. We see these suits after World War II in the 1920s when the detachable collar was going out of style, but had not yet disappeared. Many Eton suit were worn with Eton shaped collars, but thy seem to be blouses with attched collars, not detachable collars. The small Eton-shaped collar here is a good example (figure 1). Putting stiff detachable collars on younger boys by the 1920s was not very common as more and more concessions wre made to infirmlity, especually for younger children. .

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Created: 10:10 AM 9/8/2017
Last updated: 10:10 AM 9/8/2017