** boys' collars shirts : types -- United States America collar types








American Shirt-like Garments: Collar Types


Figure 1.--This cabinet card shows two brothers wearing huge ruffled collars photographed with their little sister. They have relatively small bows, perhaps because the photograph was taken after the turn-of-the century. They are wearing regular suits, not Fauntleriy suits but the collars give a Fauntleroy look. We do not knoe know how the collars were attached, perhaps lightly sewn on the shirts or shirt waists or sinply tied on with a sinple knot. Npte that there aee no elaborate matching wrist cuffs. The children's last names are Evens, The studio was Mackenzie in Dubuque, Iowa. The portrait is not dated, but the mount syule suggests the early-1900s, perhaps 1900-05.

There were different types of collars, most prominantly attached and detachable collars. The invention of the detachable collar was a boon to the weary housewife. At a time when laundry was a daunting undertaken for beleagered houswives, the detachable shirt collar was a very efficent labor saving device. The shirt waist itself could be worn several days if not all week and all the boy or man had to do to look smart was to change the collar. Actually some young women also wore them--most famously the Gibson girls. Usually it was the collar that was the part of the shirt that got the dirtiest. And it was easier to wash just the collar than the whole shirt. This may sound like a small matter today with washing machines and laundry detergents as well as instant hot water. Housewives in the 19th century had none of these things. And laundry was an all-day activity of heavy labor--usually monday. There was a wide range of different collar types. Eton and wing collars are probably the best known, but there were many other styles. Many different styles appeard in period catalogs, but often they were not identified by destinctive names. The Eton collar was especially popular for boys. We know how Eton and similar collars were attached. We are less sure about lace and ruffled collars. Some may have been lightly sewed on the shot garment. Some may have been pinned on. We are still working on this.

Detachable Collars

The detachable collar was invented in America during the 1830s. It proved an istant success Detachable collars proved a boon to the weary housewife. At a time when laundry was a daunting undertaken for beleagered housewives, the detachable shirt collar was a very efficent labor saving device. The shirt waist itself could be worn several days if not all week and all the boy or man had to do to look smart was to change the collar. Actually some young women also wore them--most famously the Gibson girls. Usually it was the collar that was the part of the shirt that got the dirtiest. And it was easier to wash just the collar than the whole shirt. This may sound like a small matter today with washing machines and laundry detergents as well as instant hot water. Housewives in the 19th century had none of these things. And laundry was an all-day activity of heavy labor--usually monday. There was a wide range of different collar types. Eton and wing collars are probably the best known, but there were many other styles. Many different styles appeard in period catalogs, but often they were not identified by destinctive names. The Eton collar was especially popular for boys. We know how Eton and similar collars were put in place.

Tie-on and Pin-on Collars

We are less sure about lace and ruffled collars. Many were a form of detavle collar, but not the stiff kind like an Eton collar. Some may have been lightly sewed on the shot garment. Some may have been pinned on. We are still working on this. We suspect that the boy's collar here was not attached to a blouse, in part because there are no fancy cuffs. Collars like this may have been tied on with a simple knot and not a button like an Eton collar. Small lace collars could be pinned on. The larger Fauntleroy collars were probably tied on. These tie-on and pin-on collars were not as ommon as the other detachable collars, especially for boyswear. The Primary exception here was the Fauntleroy era.

Attached Collars

Shirts and blouses unlike shirt waists had attached collars. And like detachable collars they were done in many different styles. Shirts and blouses with attached collars were worn before detachable collars were invented and in the 20th century rapidly repaced detachable collars as modern mechanical washing machines and laundry detergents were invented.






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Created: 7:44 AM 8/8/2014
Last updated: 11:29 PM 3/3/2015