Chihuahua Fashion Moment: Vintage Evans Split Jeweled Collar

I found this little sparkly jeweled collar at a thrift store, and it took me right back to the late 80's. I've loved going to pet stores to look at dog gear since early childhood, and vinyl rhinestone collars always caught my eye. The hardware and general quality of this collar led me to believe it was a true vintage piece and not a modern reproduction. It was quite obviously worn for an extended period of time, yet the vinyl has not separated, and every stone is still in place. The tiny buckle has a rounded tongue rather than a flat tongue.

Photo by Erin Koski

I failed to google any information about this collar. There just doesn't seem to be any information about dog collar manufacturers of bygone decades. It's quite possible I'm the only person on the internet who cares about that sort of thing.

I had nearly given up in my quest for information when I spotted the same collar at SuperZoo. It was perfect, the same split center and rhinestone design, with the same ribbed crimp beads. Upon chatting with a representative for the company, I learned that Evans Collars has been around since 1957. They have a factory in Missouri, where they produce all sorts of decorative dog collars.

One of Audrey Hepburn's dogs wore a Dandy collar by Evans. They also made vinyl sailor collars that I saw in stores in the 1980's. They've reintroduced those, as well as this split design. I sent Evans a picture of my jeweled collar, and they recognized it as a design they made in the 70's and 80's. They just reintroduced it at SuperZoo.

As an added bit of intrigue my thrift store collar came with an identification tag for a dog belonging to a man who died in the area last year. I found an obituary that mentioned a different dog than the one that wore this collar. This leads me to believe that the dog named on the tag had passed, and that the collar was kept as a memento until the death of her owner. The address listed on the tag is for a home that had not been sold since 1977.

Conclusion: This collar is probably from post-1977, but definitely before the 1990's.

Second Conclusion: I'm kind of creepy.