The History of the Elizabethan collar

The Elizabethan era is the time of lush high collars, so this name migrated to veterinary medicine. Collars that had the name - "head on a plate" came into a fashion. The most interesting thing that initially, the trend was not like that, it has transformed from year to year. It all started with a trendy underwear collars that came from Spain.

A little later, they began to grow, in the truest sense of the word. It became more and more difficult to keep their shape, so dressmakers began to use starch, frames and layering for these purposes. Hence the proud, even arrogant position of the head of noble persons - perhaps they did not want to look down on people, but it was incredibly difficult to turn or lower their head in such a collar.

The collars of dense material retained their shape, framed the neckline of the garment and were low. But over time, the collars began to grow - first a few centimeters up the neck, and later - up to the chin. They were made in several layers and starched. This fashion won the hearts of people for almost two centuries, therefore, in many paintings, noble ladies are depicted with lush, multi-layered rings around their necks.

Such an accessory was worn by Queen Elizabeth herself: it is believed that the height of the collar could reflect the position of a person in society, so the queen was out of competition.

In the 60s of the last century, veterinarian Frank L. Johnson drew an attention to this trend and thought that it could be an excellent basis for creating protective collars for animals. This is how a medical device for dogs and cats appeared in the form of a truncated cone, which is most often used in the postoperative period so that the animal does not lick the wounds on the body. Interestingly, the veterinarian called the collars "Elizabethan", and doctors still use this term.