Figure 1.--Here we see a French Canadian boy, Gustave Gagnon, wearing a kneepants suit with an Eton collar. He looks to be about 16 years old. The photograph was taken in 1901. Ckick on the image for more information. |
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We have only limited information about Eton collars in Canada. We do note Canadian boys wearing Eton collars in the late 19th and early 20th century. Given the fact that Canada was an English colony, we assume that clothing styles were quite similar to England, especially as Canada was England's closest colony. The Eton collar was also worn in America, another fashion influence on Canada.
We are not sure if there were differences between English and French speaking Canadians concerning the Eton collar. We assume that the style was most common among English speaking Canadians. A good example here is ??? Armstrong in 1898. Eton collars were worn in France, but by the 19th century there seems to have been little cultural contact between Canada and France. We do see affluent French Canadian boys wearing Eton collars, presumably following estanlished fashion trends. A good example of an affluent French Canadian boy is the boy here in 1901 (figure 1). We are less sure about middle-class and working-class boys. The Eton collar was also extensively worn at French schools.
We have only limited information about Eton collars in Canada. We do note Canadian boys wearing Eton collars in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Given the fact that Canada was an English colony, we assume that clothing styles were quite similar to England, especially as Canada was England's closest colony--at least after losing America. The Eton collar was also worn in America, another fashion influence on Canada.
We are not sure if there were differences between English and French speaking Canadians concerning the Eton collar. We assume that the style was most common among English speaking Canadians. A good example here is ??? Armstrong in 1898. Eton collars were worn in France, but by the 19th century there seems to have been little cultural contact between Canada and France.
We do see affluent French Canadian boys wearing Eton collars, presumably following established fashion trends. A good example of an affluent French Canadian boy is the boy here in 1901 (figure 1). We are less sure about middle-class and working-class boys. Social class may be a more imortant factor than the English-French division.
The Eton collar was also extensively worn at Canafian schools, including French-language schools. We note Eton collars at a number of schools in the first half of the 20th century. One example is Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario. Eton collars were worn at Trinity College School until as late as 1944.
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