** American Eton suits: chronology








American Eton Suits: Chronology


Figure 1.--This American boy wears an Eton suit with an Eton collar and bow tie. We are uncertain about the color of the suit. He looks to be 8-9 years old. The photograph is undated, but we would estimate the 1930s. Image courtesy of the RS collection.

Portaits show that the Eton collar and Eton suits had crossed the Atlantic as early as the 1840s. I do not know, however, just how popular the style was. The American primitive show here for a variety of reasons. HBC is fairly confident that the style of their suit and collar was inspired by the English Eton suits, the shape of the collars, the short black jackets, the long grey trousers all point to this. The image also shows how common it was during the first half of the 19th century for boys, even very young ones, to wear long pants after breeching. We do not, however, see American boys commonly wearing Eton collars with any specific style of suit jacket. The Eton collar was hyt one collar style worn with varipys types of suit jackets. We began to note the lapelless Eton jackets in America after World War I during the late 1920s. We have not yet noted them in the 1910s. Thgey were for younger boys, although at first this mean boys up to about 10 years of age. We are not positive when they first begun to be worn in America, but appears to be sometime during the 1920s. We are not sure about the details of these suits. They appear to have been worn mostlty with short pants. We see many younger American boys wearing these suits during the 1920s-60s. We see them quite commonly in the photographic record. We are not sure just why they first appeared in the 1920s, but this was when short pants as opposed to knee pants first appeared in America. These suits were an option for younger boys to the more common knicker suits. We do not know, for example, if the suit pants were suspender shorts or not, this probably depended on age. The Eton suit does not appear to have become a widely worn style for small boys until the mid-1940s. Almost all the boys wearing Eton suits before the 1950s would be boys from affluent families. Only in the 1950s did the style become widely worn by all classes of American boys. Collar styles began to change in the 1940s from Eton collars to Peter Pan collars. It was quite common in the 1960s, but began to decline in the 1970s. Eton suits were less commonly worn in the 1980s as even most younger boys stoped wearing short pants suits for dressup. We have not yet determined chronological trends associated with neckwear. A factor here was the general decline in the popularity of suits over time. We note them being worn as First Communuon suits. The styling of the suits was fairly common, but the cut at the front could vary somewhat. The blouses worn with the suit and the length of the shorts varied over time as did age conventions. These juvenile Eton suyitw were less commonly worn in the 1970s, but they were a popular choice for younger boys participating in formal events like weddings. They were a popular ring bearer outfit. They continued to be worn by younger boys, mostly pre-school boys.

Classic Eton Suits

Portraits show that the Eton collar and Eton suits had crossed the Atlantic as early as the 1840s. I do not know, however, just how popular the style was. The American primitive show here for a variety of reasons. HBC is fairly confident that the style of their suit and collar was inspired by the English Eton suits, the shape of the collars, the short black jackets, the long grey trousers all point to this. We do not, however, see American boys commonly wearing Eton collars with any specific style of suit jacket. The Eton collar was hyt one collar style woennwith varipys types of suit jackets. The image also shows how common it was during the first half of the 19th century for boys, even very young ones, to wear long pants after breeching. A British expert on Eton collars, however, notes that he wouldn't call the relatively unstiff flat-down-upon-the-shoulders collars depicted in the painting of the American brothers true Eton Collars. Although the latter probably evolved from the earlier type they are different in important respects. The true English Eton Collar stands higher and is much stiffer--and presumably rather more uncomfortable." Photographic evidence and fashion catalogs suggest that Eton suits and collars were not nearly as popular in Americaas in England. Eton suits were being worn by American boys in the late 19th century and at the turn of the century. The boys wearing them, however, are generally boys from affluent families. The style was much less commonly worn by middle-class boys. The collar itselfwas more popular than the entire suit. While wealthy boys might wear a proper Eton suit, more common was the Eton collar with an ordinary suit. HBC is not sure if the classic Eton suit evolved into the Eton suits commonly worn by younger American boys or if this style developed on its own.

American Eton Suits

While the Eton suit generally disappeared in the 1920s, it was still occasionally seen in the 1930s. A destinctly Americam off shoot of the Eton suit was the American Eton suit which was beginnng in the late 1920s worn by younger American boys, a suit with a short lapeless jacket usually with suspender short pants. I began to note the lapelless Eton jackets in America during the late 1920s. I'm am not positive when they first begun to be worn in America, but appears to be sometime during the 1920s. We are not sure about the details of these suits. They appear to have been worn mostlty with short pants. We do not know, for example, if the suit pants were suspender shorts or not. The Eton suit does not appear to have become a widely worn style for small boys until the mid-1940s. Almost all the boys wearing Eton suits before the 1950s would be boys from affluent families. Only in the 1950s did the style become widely worn by all classes of American boys. Collar styles began to cahnge in the 1940s from Eton collars to Peter Pan collars. It was quite common in the 1960s, but began to decline in the 1970s. It was less commonly worn in the 1980s as even most younger boys stoped wearing short pants suits for dressup. We have not yet determined chronological trends associated with neckwear.

Neckwear

Eton suits have been worn both without and without neckwear. For those boys who wire their Etin sduits with neckwear, the most common choice was a bowtie. HBC has not, however, not yet determined chronological trends associated with neckwear.







HBC







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Created: January 28, 2002
Last updated: 6:36 PM 10/20/2006