Figure 1.--This charming minature is undated, but was probably painted about 1870, perhaps earlier. It is a good example of the modest size collars that 19th century boys generally wore until the mid- or late 1870s.

Lace was heavily employed on wealthy and aristocratic men's clothing in the 17th century. Portraits of monarch and other important personages show large amounts of lace being used for adornment, not only at the neck, but also wrist trim as well and in some cases adornment at the hem of knee breaches. Boys of comparable rank once breached would be dressed in the same fashion. The lace collar as a specifically boys's fashion did not come about until the late 19th century. Some boys wore elaborate collars, both open and closed, with skeletiob suits in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but these appear to have been more commonly ruffled rather than lace collars. We begin to notice lace collars on boys in the mid-19th century. At this time they were generally small modest size collars. The size of the colars and the popularity began to grow in the 1870s. The fashion became very popular of course after the publication of Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1885, especially in America. Boys began to be seen with huge lace collars. Many but not all boys also wore large bows which tended to cover up thei lace collars. The use of large bows continued throughout the period that large lace collars were popular and after and depended on the mother's fashion sence rather than any chronological pattern. By the mid-1890s, less expensive, but still large ruffled collars began to replace the lace collar for boys.

The 17th Century

Lace was heavily employed on wealthy and aristocratic men's clothing in the 17th century. Portraits of monarch and other important personages show large amounts of lace being used for adornment, not only at the neck, but also wrist trim as well and in some cases adornment at the hem of knee breaches. Boys of comparable rank once breached would be dressed in the same fashion.

The 18th Century

The 19th Century

The lace collar as a specifically boys's fashion did not come about until the late 19th century. Some boys wore elaborate collars, both open and closed, with skeletiob suits in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but these appear to have been more commonly ruffled rather than lace collars. We begin to notice lace collars on boys in the mid-19th century. At this time they were generally small modest-size collars. The size of the colars and the popularity began to grow in the 1870s. The fashion became very popular of course after the publication of Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1885, especially in America. Boys began to be seen with huge lace collars. Many but not all boys also wore large bows which tended to cover up thei lace collars. The use of large bows continued throughout the period that large lace collars were popular and after and depended on the mother's fashion sence rather than any chronological pattern. By the mid-1890s, less expensive, but still large ruffled collars began to replace the lace collar for boys.

The 20th Century

Large collars were still quite common in the early 20th century before World War I. These collars were, however, mostly ruffled collsrs. Pure lace collars were much less common. These fancy collars become much less common for boys in the 1910s. Ant by the 1920s they were a deinatively firls style. A good example is the dress American girl Lo Benta is wearing, we think in the late-1920s.

Created: August 6, 2002
Last updated: 2:42 PM 12/12/2015