1900s Women's stiff collars
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1895-1910 Stiff collars for women
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Two of the collars showing the different paterns; they are size 13
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Two of the collars showing different patterns; they are size 13½
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The box the collars came in
Description
The collars may be made of cotton or linen,but they have been so heavily starched it is hard to see the fibres. They are in a style known as a double round, in that they have a fall with rounded front edges over the stand, and they are 1⅞" high.
The falls are all decorated with white cotton cutwork embroidery and each collar has a diferent design; the ½" wide border is sewn on to the lower edge with openwork, ⅛" wide, along the middle.
The stand has a vertical buttonhole at the centre back, for a collar stud which would come through another buttonhole on the stand collar of the blouse, or there might be a button on the collar band which would replace the need for a stud. There is a horizontal buttonhole in each end at the front for another stud which would also pass through buttonholes at the front of the blouse collar.
The collars are stiffly starched, which involves soaking them in a strong solution of starch and then ironing them when they are nearly dry until they are quite hard, as stiff as cardboard.
The four collars came in a box with size 13 on the label, but two of them are size 13½ so it is likely that only the other two originally belonged there. The size is in inches and refers to the circumference of the wearers neck, and they all have the design name 'Mary' printed inside above the size; they were made in Ireland.
Contemporary illustrations
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Unknown woman and two girls, c.1900
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Photoraph in The Tatler captioned "The Would-Be Lady Lawyer, Miss Bertha Cave who has been refused admission to Gray's Inn by a special tribunal of judges on the ground that there is no precedent for ladies being called to the English Bar". 1903
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Photograph of a tennis player in The Queen, 1912
History
It seems a little strange that at a time when women were asserting their independence and freedom, they should adopt one of the more constricting elements of men's clothing, the stiff collar.