(Interesting) Observation: Women wearing collar pins with suit and tie

[Hynes]

Hi everyone! It's my first time posting things here and I wanna share one of my (interesting) observations. I'm a suit and suit-style uniform lover and I collect quite a bunch of photos where women of different ages wear suit and tie or different types of uniforms. I find one thing very interesting that some ladies tended to wear a collar pin when they're wearing suit and tie, especially during 1910s to 1960s. After 1960s the trend of wearing collar pins faded gradually until recently it's kinda coming back. I guess the main reason for wearing a collar pin is because at that period shirt collars (not including those detachable ones) were not as stiff as they appear today so that wearing a collar pin would help pull the collar together for a neat look. It could be also because of people wanna be looking strict and conservative so they put some effort including wearing a collar pin to make the collar tight and secure. I really appreciate the look that a tie is lifted and secured by a collar pin underneath, which makes the tie jut out with a beautiful shape of an arc. Here I post some of my favorite photos of women wearing collar pins with suit and tie. It would be very welcome if anyone is also interested in this topic and shares more photos!

Agnes Ayres (1898-1940)

Three unidentified ladies from New Zealand (circa 1920s).

Unidentified WWI female soldier. The collar seems to be very tight.

Joan Fountain as Prudence "Pru" Cathaway in This Above All (1942). Pru was enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force which didn't seem to require a collar pin as part of the uniform, at least in other photos I've ever seen. This makes me quite confused. It's appreciated if anyone can clarify this!

Inez Hynes wearing air hostess uniform of Australian National Airways (1939).

Four Canadian Women's Army Corps members. This photo also makes me confused for the same reason above. Looks like CWAC members were more likely to wear a collar pin, while we can still occasionally spot some ladies (like the 2nd from the left below) not wearing one.

Christmas dinner of the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division. (Everyone wore a collar pin! Great!)

Girls from Camberwell High School, Australia (late 1940s). Very strict but decent look. Like the British and Canadian army, this school doesn't impose a collar pin as part of the uniform, while most of the girls turned out to be wearing one.

Girls from Palmerston North Technical High School, New Zealand (circa 1950s).

Girls from the UK also wore collar pins. These were students from Cheltenham Ladies' College (circa 1950s).

 

[Hynes]

(Continued)
Barbara Streisand (circa 1960s).

I also find some modern photos of this topic.

Pia Antignani

Some gorgeous American Saddleseat riders. Notice that they are wearing bar-style collar pin instead of safety-pin style ones shown above.

(Perfect Silhouette!)

 

[Edward]

I think at least some of the girls from Cheltenham College are wearing tab collars rather than pins. Same effect, of course.

 

[Fading Fast]

Re Joan Fontaine wearing a possibly "not regulation" collar pin in "This Above all," (haven't seen it in a good while, but a solid movie), one, it's Hollywood, so accuracy will be sacrificed to style and, two, Fontaine was a big star, so she also had a lot of her whims and wishes catered to.

 

[Hynes]

I think at least some of the girls from Cheltenham College are wearing tab collars rather than pins. Same effect, of course.

So that means students usually bought shirts for their school uniform by their own choices?

 

[Hynes]

Re Joan Fontaine wearing a possibly "not regulation" collar pin in "This Above all," (haven't seen it in a good while, but a solid movie), one, it's Hollywood, so accuracy will be sacrificed to style and, two, Fontaine was a big star, so she also had a lot of her whims and wishes catered to.

That's true, and wearing a collar pin is indeed more stylish. I can't forget the two scenes (getting changed on a train & talking with her lover on phone) where Joan Fontaine was so very charming!

 

[Edward]

So that means students usually bought shirts for their school uniform by their own choices?

Plausibly. If the uniform list just called for a 'white shirt' and the school neither specified a particular collar nor objected to a tab, they could have worn them. (Seems more likely to have passed uniform inspection than extraneous jewellery (typically banned in all schools) such as a pin.)

 

[Fading Fast]

That's true, and wearing a collar pin is indeed more stylish. I can't forget the two scenes (getting changed on a train & talking with her lover on phone) where Joan Fontaine was so very charming!

The peak window of her career - her charm and beauty at it's peak and her movies A list - was brief, but dazzling. I always wish there were more movies of her that I wanted to see again and again, as I've seen the really good ones way too many times.

 

[Hynes]

Plausibly. If the uniform list just called for a 'white shirt' and the school neither specified a particular collar nor objected to a tab, they could have worn them. (Seems more likely to have passed uniform inspection than extraneous jewellery (typically banned in all schools) such as a pin.)

As far as I know CLC had a very strict uniform code around 1950s, and the armies must surely also have such a code. Given there're so many other schools where students wear a collar pin with their uniforms, I guess a collar pin should not be counted as extraneous accessories/jewellry.

What makes me so curious is that in those years did people just care so much about how strict and neat the collar is when they're wearing shirt and tie? I found almost everyone wearing a tie wore it tightly leaving no space between the collar and the neck. Did people wear tab collars/collar pins to enhance this look or it's simply because the shirt collar was usually not so stiff as I mentioned above?