We notice quite a range of different collar styles in the 19th century. Our information on the early 19th century is limited, but we know quite a bit about the mid- and late-19th century. Some boys' collars were so small that they could barely be seen. We see some of the basic collar styles at mid-century, but they tend to be very small. Others were normous. We also notice very plain collars as well as extremely fancy ones with lace and ruffles. We note open-neck and collar-buttoning styles. There were collars on bloses and shirts as well as detachable collars. The large, fancy collars were mostly worn by younger boys and were often used in age grading.

Early 19th Century (1800-40)

Boys at the beginning of the Century still wore open ruffled collars, often with skeleton suits. Gradually other styles appeared, such as wide white collars. The fashion of wearing collars closed became more prevalent after the 1820s. An American housewife invented the detachable collar in 1827 and by mid-century it had become widely dopted by middle-class Americans and Eurpeans wearing white shirts.

Figure 1.--Many classic boys collars were worn in the mid-19th Century, but they were generally much smaller than those worn later in the century. These boys wear an Eton and a ruffled collar. These differences in collars, notice the outfits are identical, were commonly used to indicate age differences.

Mid-19th Century (1840-70)

Boys by the mid-19th Century were wearing mostly closed collars. We see some boys with open collars. A good example is Swiss boys in 1840. The cloesd-collar blouses and shirts, however were much more common. Here we begin to have a much better idea of popular fashion because of the development of a photogrphic industrt. The style of the collars varied, including ruffled, Eton, and plain white collars. The most distinuishing feature of boy's collars at mid-century was was that they were generally small. Often they are very visible at the neckline of a jacket which often buttones at the collar. In other instances they are clearly seen, but quite small. A good example an unidentified American boy about 1850. Another example is an unidentified American boy in 1855. We notice various styles including pounted collaers, rounded collars, and ruffled collars. An exanple of pointed collars is the Wallis brothers in 1852. They were not nearly as an important fashion element as they were to become later in the century. The popularity of cut-awy jackets provided more information. A good example is Charles J.J. Carter in the 1860s. Another good example is V.A. Blasque about 1870.

Figure 2.--These American boys from Freeport, Illinoiswae huge rylled collars and floppy bow, probably in the 1890s.

Late 19th Century (1870-1900)

Collars began to increase in size in the late 19th Century. New fashions appeared like lace collars for boys. Collars were commonly used in the late 19th century as age specific clothing. Thus as a boy got older the style of the collar he wore with his suit changed significantly with his age. After the Fauntleroy craze of the mid-1880s, the size of the collars increased significantly. We note lace collars of vary shape. The largest collars were commonly ruffled collars. Some became very large indeed, sometime covering the boys shoulders with lacey finery. Older boys might wear stiff Eton collars. All collars were worn buttoned tightly closed.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 16th Century] [Early 1800s] [The 1870s] [The 1880s] [The 1890s]
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Created: 12:19 AM 11/23/2007
Last updated: 12:19 AM 11/23/2007