Figure 1.--This unidentified portrait is undated, but was proabably taken about 1890. His collar looks very close to a Peter Pan collar, perhaps not as rounded as the cassic style. Often these collars were largely covered up by the floppy bow, but here we can see it has a Peter Oan collar. The studio was Ailon in Ecansron, Illinois.

It is difficult to develop a timeline for Peter Pan collars as the collars clearly existed before the name-sake play and they were called Peter Pan collar. Collars that look much like Peter Pan collars can be found on boys clothing thoughtout the 19th century--although the size varied widely as well as the precise styling. We even seen younger teenagers wearing them. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1840s. It does not appear as a commonly worn style, however, until after the the late 19th century. They seem to have become popular in the 1890s as a kind of alternative to the elaborate lace and ruffled collars. This is of course before they would have been called a Peter Pan collar. A good example is a Reading boy. Boys wearing dressing outfits increasinly wore ruffled collars, but less formal clothes might be worn with Peter Pan collars. A good example is the Whitney boys in 1895. We note boys with large Peter Pan collars in the early 20th century. A good example is Floyd Van Horne about 1915. The Eton suit for younger American boys which became popular in the 1920s were at first worn with Eton collars, but gradually the Peter Pan collar replaced the Eton collar. Other styles such as shortalls and button-on suits were also worn with Peter Pan blouses giving them a dressy look.

The 19th Century

Collars that look much like Peter Pan collars can be found on boys clothing thoughtout the 19th century--although the size varied widely as well as the precise styling. I supose one could differ as to they were Peter Pan collsars as some were cut a bit differently, but somne are exactly like Peter Pan collars. Unfortunastely we do not know what they were called at the time. We even seen younger teenagers wearing them. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1840s. It does not appear as a commonly worn style, however, until after the the late-19th century. They seem to have become popular in the 1890s as a kind of alternative to the elaborate lace and ruffled collars. This is of course before they would have been called a Peter Pan collar. Another example is a Reading boy. Boys wearing dressing outfits increasingly wore ruffled collars, but less formal clothes might be worn with Peter Pan collars. An example is an Ohio boy in 1890. Another example is the Whitney boys in 1895. Many of these collars in the 1890 may be detachable collars. We have seen advertiements for them. It is difficult to tell for sure in the photographic record. Another problem is that as part of the Fauntleroy Craze, large floppy bows were often worn with these collars. This often made it impossible to tell if the boy was wearing an Eton or Peter Pan collar.

The 20th Century

We note boys with large Peter Pan collars in the early-20th century, mostly the 1900s decade. These are shaped like the classic Peter Pan collar and done in fairly large sizes. A good example is Floyd Van Horne about 1915. In the 19th century there were no sharp gender or age conventions associated with the Peter Pan collar. In the early-20th century, however, the Peter Pan collar became associated with both younger boys and girls. We are not sure just when these collars became called Peter Pan collars. It had to be after J.M. Barrie's eponymous Peter Pan character first appeared in both America and Britain (1902), probably some time after that. Strangely the hige number of illustraroprs who have depicted Peter, do not show him wearing the collar named after him. We do not know what these collars were called before acquiting the Peter Pan name. Thus boys shirts and detachable collars were generally not made with Peter Pan collars. This was difficult to assss in the late-9th century because floppy bows could be so large. We do still see blouses for younger boys made with Peter Pan collars. The Eton suit for younger American boys which became popular in the 1920s were worn with blouses that had both Eton and Peter Pan collars, but gradually the Eton collar became the most popular style. Other styles such as shortalls and button-on suits were also worn with Peter Pan blouses giving them a dressy look. Except for younger boys, the Peter Pan collar became a primary style for girls' blouses.

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Created: 12:37 AM 2/21/2010
Last updated: 10:39 AM 3/14/2024