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The younger boys wearing Eton suits generally wore blouses rather than shirts. Shirt tails were not deemed necessary for younger boys. The early Eton suits were generally worn with scaled-down Eton collars. Soon more comfortable-looking Peter Pan collars replaced the stiff Eton collars formerly worn by British boys. However, a few American boys were still
wearing Eton-looking collars as late as the late 1930s and early 1940s. Gradually the Peter Pan collars became the most popular. Many Eton suits were also worn with normal soft, but never button-down collars. The collar, whatever the style, always folded down over the jacket.
We have just begun to assess the chronology of` Eton collar blouses. Interestingly we see small Rton collars in the 1860s before the American Eton suit existed. They passed from style in the 1870s as collars increased in size. We begin to see these juvenile Eton suits suits in the 1920s. Many of the boys in the early images seem to we wearing large detabable Eton collars. We continue to see these detached Eton collars for some time. See examples in Sears catalogs into the mid-1940s. (This is, however, an illustration not an ad.). We note an actual family photigraph, but it is undated. I could be from the early-40s. By the 1950s bloues with soft collars had largely replaced the detachable collsrs. The size of the blouse collars become notably smaller. We notice two popular styles, Eton and Peter Pan collars. A good example from the 1950s is an unidentified New York boy. Here we see another Eton collar blouse in the 1960s (figure 1).
The younger boys wearing Eton suits generally wore blouses rather than shirts. This was basicallu an age convention. Blouses were considered appropriate for younger boys. Shirt tails were not deemed necessary for younger boys.
Two different types of blouses were worn with Eton suits by younger American boys, blouses with Eton or Peter Pan collars. The early Eton suits were generally worn with relatively large collars in the style of the Eton collars, worn in the late 19th and 20th centuries. They were as far as we can determine not detachable collars, but generally blouses with attached collars. Eventually the Eton collars became less severe and smaller, but still retained the basic Eton styling with a point rather than the rounded Peter Pan style. However, a few American boys were still wearing Eton-looking collars as late as the late 1930s and early 1940s. By the 1960s boys were wearing a very small collar, but generally with a point showing the Eton collar origins. By the 1960s more boys began wearing Peter Pan collars with their Eton suits, but the Eton styling has remained popular as well. Soon more comfortable-looking Peter Pan collars replaced the stiff Eton collars formerly worn by British boys. Gradually the Peter Pan collars became the most popular for very young boys. Older boys generally wore a collar with a small point.
Eton suits were also worn with both detchable and normal soft, but never button-down collars. Theshift from detacable Eton collars to blouse collars seens to have been roughly about 1940 with both types seem during the lte-1930s and early-1940s.
The blouse, unlike the shirt, was never worn with a tie. Normally the blouse was buttoned at the collar, but occasionally boys wore open collars. The collar of the blouse, whatever the style, always folded down over the Eton jacket. Blouse collars were never worn under the jacket.
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