Figure 1.-- Here we see an unidentified London boy wearing a velvet cut-away jacket. Notice the extremely small collar and stock-like bow. This portrait as undated, but we guess was taken about 1870. Collars in the 1850s-60s tended to be even smaller, especially the 60s. This cintinued into the 70s which we believe is when this portrait was taken.

We have much more information on boys clothing with thev advent of photograpy (19th century). Thus of course means the second half of the centyury as photography was invented in France (1839). Perhas the earliest dedicated boys' collar was the Eton collar. Various collars were worn with the 19th century skeleton suit. With the advent of photography it becomes popssible to follow fashion trends including collars in much more detail than ever before. Unlike America, we do not begin to see large numbers of English photographic images until the advent of the CDV (1860s). We do not see boys commonly wearing dedicated collar styles until the mid-19th entry. They were destinguisable from adult collars by both size and fancy construction. Boys' Collars at mid-century tended to be very small (1840s-60s). A good example is an unidentified Lincoln boy in the 1860s who looks to be having his beginning school portrait taken. He has a small rounded collar. Detachable collars appeared at mid-19th century, a phenomenon related to the drugery mothers faced with laundry. Assessing shirts and blouses is a little difficult because so many boys are wearing suit jackets--at least in studio portraits. as a result, all we can see is the collar even though they were very small. The Royal Family introduced the sailor suit, including the collar for the princes (1840s). It quickly becmae an imprtant boy's style. The girls not wanting to be left out of an important fashion stratement soon copied it for their own. Then we begin to see somewhat larger collars (mid-1870s). They were destinguisable from adult collars by both size and fancy construction. With the Fauntleroy Craze we see an explosion of collar sizes. Mothers launced a veritable fashion arms race to see who cold have the larger collars. Through all of this the Eton collar continued to be an important. Fauntleroy collars were for the most part not detachavle collars with the exception of lace collars. They Fauntlroy ruffled collars were usually part of the fancy blouses. The lace collars tended to be pinned or tied on to jackers. It is a little difficult to determine this from photographs.

The 1800s

Perhas the earliest dedicated boys' collar was the Eton collar. Various collars were worn with the 19th century skeleton suit.

The 1840s

We have much more information on boys clothing with thev advent of photograpy (19th century). Thus of course means the second half of the centyury as photography was invented in France (1839). With the advent of photography it becomes popssible to follow fashion trends including collars in much more detail than ever before. Although the number of early photograpgs (Daguerreotypes) are limited,a ctually much more limuted than in America. We ahbe found very few Enhlish Dags. The Royal Family introduced the sailor suit, including the collar for the princes (1840s). It quickly becmae an imprtant boy's style.

The 1850s

The Ambrotype appeared in the 1850s, but we continue to find few Engklish examples. Detachable collars appeared at mid-19th century, a phenomenon related to the drugery mothers faced with laundry.

The 1860s

Unlike America, we do not begin to see large numbers of English photographic images until the advent of the CDV (1860s). We do not see boys commonly wearing dedicated collar styles until the mid-19th entry. They were destinguisable from adult collars by both size and fancy construction. Boys' Collars at mid-century tended to be very small (1840s-60s). A good example is an unidentified Lincoln boy in the 1860s who looks to be having his beginning school portrait taken. He has a small rounded collar. Even with increasing numbers of images, Assessing shirts and blouses is a little difficult because so many boys are wearing suit jackets--at least in studio portraits. We see this in part as a reflection of the rising prosperity of the middle class. As a result, all we can see is the collar even though they were very small.

The 1870s

Collar sizes contunued to be small in the 1870s, especially in the early-70s. The London boy here uis a good example (figure 1). The girls not wanting to be left out of an important fashion stratement soon copied the sailor collar for their own. Then we begin to see somewhat larger collars (mid-1870s). BBoys' collars were destinguisable from adult collars by both size and fancy construction.

The 1880s

With the Fauntleroy Craze we see an explosion of collar sizes (mid-1880s). Collars had been small in the 1860s and this contined into the 1870s, but were mich larger in the 1880s. The Funtleroy Craze marked an important milestone in fashion. Fashions were set in Europe, especially England and France, and copiedand followed in the colonies. The Fauntleroy style was the first American style to cross the Atlantic in the opposite direcion and was especially notable in England (1885). Athoughh it was never as pervasive as in the United States. Mothers launched a veritable fashion arms race to see whose boys coold have the larger collars. Through all of this the Eton collar continued to be an important. Fauntleroy collars were for the most part not detachavle collars with the exception of lace collars. They Fauntlroy ruffled collars were usually part of the fancy blouses. The lace collars tended to be pinned or tied on to jackers. It is a little difficult to determine this from photographs.

The 1890s

The Eton collar continued to be widely worn in the 1890s. The Eton collar has an upper-class look to us today. Now it is trye, thst the DEton collsr was a stled that developed at a prestgious English pivate boarding school. It was adopred av many other privatre schools in England. Although they were private, fee-paying schools, the British refer to them as public schools. Here the collar story gets a little complicated. In the 19th century amost of history, tyles were setv by the upper classes. In facr many countries had sunmmtory laws, prohibiting commoners from dressing like their social betters. And thes impact of the upper classes affected schoolwear and boys wear in general. Not only was the Eton collar adopted at many private schools, but many boys in the developing staste system wore Eton collars to school. We see tht clearly in the school photogrphic record. This same dynamic also affected ordinary dress which we see in the family photograpic record. The standard Eton collarv had a pointed tip. But wec see a lot of Eton-like collars with out a sharply pointed collar. We also see fully rounded collars--basically a Peter Pan collar, although the term was not used at the time. Actually resee English boys wearing quite aange of the detachable collars. Quite a few were not the stzndard pointed Eton collars. In addition to the fancy Fauntleroy collars for younger boys, we also see plain, but very large collrs. In England but not Anerica, these plain white collars were actually more common than the fancier Fauntleroy collars.

Created: 11:10 AM 9/22/2021
Last updated: 12:34 AM 7/8/2023