Figure 1.--This unidentified tin-type shows two American siblings about 4-8 years old. The girl wears a draped dress with a long skirt and ruffled collar. The boy wears a standard kilt suit. Notice unlike his sister, the skirt garment was not pleated. He wears a moderate-sized scalloped collar. Tin-types are difficult to date, but we suspect it was taken in the late-1870s. We begin to see larger collars in the late-1870s, but it is not until the mid-1880s that we see the huge collars worn with Fauntleroy suits.

There are two types of garments with collars worn as part of kilt suits. The jacket might or might not have a collar. The top (blouse or shirt) usually had a collar. There were various styles of jackets. The classic kilt suit consisted of a suit jacket which commonly has a collar. Some mothers also used collar-buttoning jackets which often did have a collar. We also see standard sack nsuit jackets where the collar merges with lapels. The original kilt-suits which we first see in numbers (1860s) were worn with small usually top (shirt/blouse) collars which was the fashion at the time. Collars gradually increased in size during the 1870s. This is why we think the portrait here was taken in the late-1870s. It was, however, in the 1880s with Fauntleroy Craze that huge collars began to appear. The boy here is a good example, but there were even much larger collars. The largest collars were the ruffled collars attached to Fauntleroy blouses. The lace collars were pin on collars. The ruffled collars were generally part of the Fauntleroy blouses. For some reason the fasuntleroy blouses usually done with rectangular back flaps, rather like a sailor blouse. Lace collars were more likely to follow a baically circular pattern, but were huighly vsarisable. The boy here is wearing a pin-on lace collar (figure 1). Notice that there are no matching wrist cuffs that Fauntleroy blouses often had. The Fauntleroy Craze in America was so pervasive that mothers put all kinds of Fauntleroy items, especially large collars, on a wide variety of outfits, including regular suits, tunic suits, and even sailor suit jackets, but the jacket might not be worn during warm summer weather.

The Jacket Collars

The jacket was one of the two principal garments making up a kilt suit. The jacket might or might not have a collar. Kilt suits were done with the classic cut-away jacket, usually without a jacket collar. The boy here wears a cut-away jacket. Because of his lace collar, we can't tell if the jacket has a collar. The cut-way jacket was most common in the 1860s. After that sack suit jackets with lapels were most common. Many but not all of the sack suit lapel jackets were especially designed to go with kilt skirts. Some mothers also used collar-buttoning jackets which often did have a collar, but they were much less common with kilt suits.

The Top (Blouse/Shirt) Collars

Kilt suits werre mormally worn with jackets and often vests. Thus we usually do not get to see much of the the tops the boys are wearing undeneath--excepr for the collars, and in sone case the wrist cuffs. The original kilt-suits which we first see in numbers (1860s) were worn with small usually top (blouse/shirt) collars which was the fashion at the time. Collars gradually increased in size during the 1870s. This is why we think the portrait here was taken in the late-1870s. It was, however, in the 1880s with Fauntleroy Craze that huge collars began to appear. The boy here is a good example, but there were even much larger collars. The largest collars were the ruffled collars attached to Fauntleroy blouses. The lace collars were pin on collars like the one the boy here is wearing (figure 1). This means that they could be worn with shirt waists. The ruffled collars were generally part of the Fauntleroy blouses. For some reason the fauntleroy blouses usually done with rectangular back flaps, rather like a sailor blouse. Lace collars were more likely to follow a basically circular pattern, but were highly variable. The boy here is wearing a pin-on lace collar (figure 1). Notice that there are no matching wrist cuffs that Fauntleroy blouses often had. The Fauntleroy Craze in Ameriac was so pervasive that mothers put all kinds of Fauntleroy items, especially large collars, on a wide variety of outfits, including regular suits, tunic suits, and even sailor suit jackets, but the jacket might not be worn during warm summer weather.

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Created: 7:42 PM 12/2/2019
Last updated: 11:14 PM 7/27/2021