Jeff Banks takes the time to explain the collar shapes of his men’s shirts – and how they should be worn.
Today, what I’d like to talk about is different collar shapes in shirts – sometimes people get very confused with these – and there are innumerable designs, but I’ve chosen 6 or 7 of my favourites.
First up – the Tab Collar. So, this is where on the collar there’s a small tab sewn underneath, and it actually press studs underneath a tie.
It’s very modern in shape, and a bit of a rewind back to the sixties.
This one here, this is our Columbia Collar. So it’s a short, kind of stubby collar. Quite a new and original shape.
This one here, this is what I call a Cutaway Collar. And this actually does what it says on the tin. It’s almost running horizontally, and needs a very wide tie to actually take up the space.
This here is the Extreme Cutaway. So this you can see its going backwards – and that’s a very modern, very Italian kind of collar shape. The extreme cutaway.
This is the Button Down Collar shirt. Does what it says on the tin. It’s actually got two buttons at the end of the point of the collar. It should have a nice easy flow to it when it’s on, and the tie sits in this very small tie space. Every American school boy – every American student – has probably got one of these in the wardrobe. What’s important is the back detail as well, which should have a box pleat and a tiny loop at the top of the box pleat – because, in college, students would hang them on their coat hook. So, that’s the button down collar.
One of the most popular collar shapes at the moment is what I call the Forward Point. Again, does what it says on the tin. It’s a very modern, contemporary collar shape, and its beginning to take over from the cut away collars, would you believe – and needs a very narrow school boy tie knot to fit nicely into this collar shape.
Here, mainly for evening wear, this is the Wing Collar. Now, this was something that would have been worn back in the 1920’s, Scotts Fitzgerald, or maybe in the 1930s- but it was normally only worn for a white tie occasion, so you would wear a wing collar with a white bow tie, very much upper class evening wear. That was a very special ball.
But now, the wing collar is being worn with black satin dinner jackets, and can be worn with a black bow tie – so the rules have kind of been changed a little bit there. But a wonderful, very dressy collar shape.
Seven of the basics!
