Figure 1.--This unidentified boy is sitting on bench. He wears a knickers suit with a detachable collar and small floppy bow. You still see quite a few examples of this in the 1910s, especially the early years of the decade. The portrait was a phoro in a folder, not a cabinet card. The photographer was the the Dean Studio in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Floppy bows declined in popularity during the 1900s and even more so during the 1910s. We still see them in the 1910s, but they were much less common in the 1900s. he ones we do see are smaller than in the 1900s and worn by increasingly younger boys. We see neckties and bowties becoming increasingly common meckwear. Bowties seemed very popular in the early-20th century, especially the 1910s and 20s. We mostly see pre-school and younger primary school boys wearing them, but this varied from family to family. We see some older boys wearing floppy bows, but very rarely teenagers--even younger teenagers. Nor do we see the massive floppy bows we once saw. The ones worn in the 1910s were all rather modest sizes. And Fauntleroy suits were much less common for the younger boys were no longer a major style. Nor do we see the blouses with the large collars as were still widely worn in the 1900s. Both were often worn with floppy bows. We do still see Eton and other detachable collars and they were sometimes worn with floppy bows. We increasingly see soft collars along with a variety of neckties and bowties. Thin neckties see popular. We note quite a few different styles. The 1900s and 10s seem the peak of popularity for bowties. Both neckties and bowties appeared much earlier, but it was in the 1910s that they energed as the principal neckwear for boys.

Created: 12:52 AM 2/5/2011
Last updated: 12:52 AM 2/5/2011