Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Add a Detachable Collar and Matching Tie

Make a detachable Chelsea collar and matching tie with this great tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears and the 1920s! In this tip, Ruth refers to foulard, a lightweight fabric (often of silk) and usually with a small printed design of various colors.

This collar and tie has such a jaunty air. :)  Quick to sew and a great way to use a remnant, don't you think?

Spring 1952 - A Study in Crisp Black and White

A full skirt, a doll waist - it's a fabulous silk dress in crisp stripes. That cute boater hat sets it off to perfection.

Very wide, very striking shaped white collar and white wing cuffs for a dark dress.

A black sheer wool dress provides a straight silhouette, broken by a swing of contrasting white wool bolero.

This dress has an overskirt that flips back to reveal a pale, pretty lining.

Strange pose... is this a hallelujah moment? Dotted scarf collar is pulled through the bodice closing to create a large bow at the hip. Now that's dramatic fashion! Pouf!

Scraps from the Past: Teen Party Dress With Shimmering Blue Collar & Cuffs

This accessory dress from McCall's and 1957 is versatile and lovely - a dress you can dress up for parties or down for every day.

Here is the scrap that was tucked in the pattern envelope, a beautiful shimmering blue, (alas,  the shimmering aspect doesn't come across in this scan).

From the notes the seamstress wrote on the envelope, she planned to sew view D in a black silky plaid, with detachable blue taffeta collar and cuffs. Can you picture it? :)

Vintage Style Trends: Detachable Collars and Cuffs

Detachable collars and cuffs were so popular in the last century (it feels weird to write about it that way), beginning in the 1940s but particularly popular in the 1950s, and lasting through the 60s and 70s and beyond. Detachable collars and cuffs were a mainstay of the wardrobe. The advantages, aside from adding striking color accent, were extension of a small wardrobe by adding variety, and reduction in cleaning costs and effort. The notched and wing varieties of collar and cuffs were extremely popular.

There are 3 variations of the detachable collar and cuffs:

• Over-collar and over-cuffs added to garment with single collar and cuffs
• Under-collar and under-cuffs added to garment with single collar and cuffs
• Collar and cuffs added to collarless and cuff-less garment

The Technique

The technique used for detachable collars and cuffs was to edge the collar or cuff with bias binding. That bound edge was then attached to the garment by simply whip-stitching in place. It is that simple. No snaps, no buttons, no hooks-and-eyes. It is a  rather uncomplicated, simple method, it seems to me!

Here are a couple of examples of detachable collars & cuffs from magazine advertisements of the 1950s:

The following patterns illustrate the over-collar and over-cuffs added to garment with single collar and cuffs:

The following pattern illustrates the less common method of under-collar and under-cuffs added to garment with single collar and cuffs:

The following patterns illustrate the collar and cuffs added to a collarless and cuff-less garment:

A popular item in the 1950s was the "accessory dress", which was purposefully collarless and cuff-less. The sewing pattern provided several styles of collars and cuffs with which to "change up" your look. Here is a great example: