Dress shirts ... just dress shirts

[Chad Sanborn]

In my area, there are alot of people sporting the cutaway collars and button down collars. If you go to the stores, you see lots of them for sale. It would be interesting to compare the same store in various locations to see if they are selling the same styles.

I have noticed an influx of Perry Ellis clothing in stores lately. In our local TJMaxx, I have been able to find alot of his shirts in a 'Slim Fit' with pointed collars. I buy them instantly as they are tapered in and have smaller armholes.

Chad

 

[Matt Deckard]

Cary Grant can be seen in some of his 40's and 50's movies wearing button down collars with French cuffs.

You can button the top button without wearing a tie... not my prefference though it is a style that has been around for decades, you see it in some pictures from the depression.

For me at least, when it comes to shirts it is all about the collar... sleeves can bee too long and body too bit, though if the collar isn't smart then the look is ruined.

I'm big on Hart Schaffner and Marx shirts at the moment as they have a really pointed collar.

 

[BellyTank]

I like the '30s/'40s pointed, more closed collars but without the interlining and stiffeners common in today's dress shirts. 'Floppy ones' if you will. Flapping around in the breeze. Todays 'stiff' attached collars are no match for the old floppies. Modern collars also often lack the pronounced back curve, which when buttoned, follows the curve from the Gentleman's shoulder, over the collar bone and toward the chest. When unbuttoned, the collar with the back-curve just looks great too.

I do like club collars but I also like this style:

...straight, deep cut and quite closed. Many of these 'odd' styles of detachable collars came into fashion in the early Victorian era and continued well into the '30s
I am a fan of detachables...

Club and other older/more formal styles continued to be worn by Bankers, Businessmen and Legal types, well into the '40s and beyond. Legals still wear detachable collars on tunic shirts- in Europe at least.
B
T

 

[Matt Deckard]

http://amazondrygoodscollarsandcuffs.com/index.html

 

[BellyTank]

Bah!!!

http://www.dennys.co.uk/Catalogue.asp?PrGrp=41

http://www.ushist.com/wardrobe/lfhp_mens_detachable_linen_collars.htm

http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/collarsmen.htm

http://www.costumes.org/history/galleryimages/collarpatterns/

http://www.premierclothing.com/pages/MensHatsAccessories.html

http://www.stanley-ley.co.uk/acatal...ey_Shirts_and_Court_Tunics_3.html&CatalogBody


http://www.stanley-ley.co.uk/acatal...talog/Stanley_Ley_Collars__7.html&CatalogBody

http://www.stanley-ley.co.uk/acatal...lar_Studs_and_Stiffeners__13.html&CatalogBody

...Take that Mr. Deckard!!!

B
T

 

[Matt Deckard]

You better wear those to work.

 

[BellyTank]

Neh!
I don't go to work...

B
T

 

[Slicksuit]

Want to try detachable collars...

BT, have you ordered collars and tunics from the UK? It seems expensive, but do you find the quality worth it in the long run? How about the turnaround? One quote I received stated up to 45 days to receive my order from England!

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I am interested in the detachable collars too. The "Imperial" style just looks really neat to me, with a nice repp FIH knotted around it and a tie pin.

I am not sure where I could wear one, though. Have any of you tried them and found dry cleaners who will launder and press them?

 

[BellyTank]

I wouldn't pay the big money from the UK Legal outfitters.

You can get new Legal shirts on eBay.co.uk for around ?Ǭ£4-6 although they're poly-cotton.

If you're able you can remove the collars from your favourite shirts and sew in a buttonhole at the back for a stud. I've bought a few NOS collars and will use them on normal collarless neck-band shirts after adding a hole for the back stud.

You can get soft detachable collars in some of the vinrage styles- check the links in previous posts and on related threads-
Search under detachable and stud collars.

B
T

 

[BellyTank]

Where to buy Club Collar and Eyelet Collar shirts???

Where oh where to find new ones of these?
Seen a few on eBay....

Where?!

B
T

 

[Chad Sanborn]

collars with back buttons?

I recently saw a few shirts with pointed collars, and at the back of the neck, the collar had a button. The button served no functional use that I could see. So it must be just for decoration? Has anyone seen this?

Chad

 

[BellyTank]

I have a couple of WW2 German army service shirts that have the back button- I'd guessed it was a kinda hang-over from the days of detachable collars with a stud at the back. Maybe it helps to control the collar and tie...
A real button down collar!

B
T

 

[Alan Eardley]

Back button

Guys,

I find the button on the back of the collar to be common with button-down wing collars - Ben Sherman (1969s UK cult shirtmaker and military supplier) had it as a sort of house feature. I guess it's to stop the tie from protruding beyond the collar edge?

Alan

 

[Veronica Parra]

Here is an example of a 1930s button-down collar. Note how long the collar points are: typically '30s. And note the little polo player on the label: Oviatt's beat Ralph Lauren to it by thirty years.

-- Marc

 

[Veronica Parra]

Don't forget the 1930s tab collar. In those days, the tabs and the top collar buttonhole were all fastened closed by the same brass collar stud. (You'd put the collar stud on the shirt yourself, just as you would with a detachable collar shirt. Note, however, that this tab collar is NOT a detachable collar.)

-- Marc

 

[Matt Deckard]

I have seen a few pics of the Duke of Windsor wearing Tab Collars. They create a nice high collar look like you'd get with a detachable.

 

[jake431]

Don't forget the 1930s tab collar. In those days, the tabs and the top collar buttonhole were all fastened closed by the same brass collar stud. (You'd put the collar stud on the shirt yourself, just as you would with a detachable collar shirt. Note, however, that this tab collar is NOT a detachable collar.)

-- Marc

Hey look! Marshall Fields! Going, going, gone! Argh.

Anyway, looks like a nice shirt.

-Jake

 

[Senator Jack]

Button on the back of the collar was very much part of atomic leisurewear. The quality 50s/60s Italian knit shirts and sweaters (I'm a sucker for Italian knits) had them because knit collars tend to wilt very quickly and the back falls flat. I think it was meant as a way to give the back some shape. (Do they still do this?) Although I have a dresserful of leisure shirts with the button on the back, I don't seem to recollect ever having a dress shirt like this. Picturing it, it looks weird, and I don't think it would look good with a blazer.

Kind regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Matt Deckard]

I believe the button on the back of collared shirts was just a style trend in the early 60's. It was a time when you saw the leather jacket clad gang members turning their shirt collars up, so adding an extra button to the back of the collar was sort of the antidisestablishmentarianist sets way of saying we are clean cut and our collars are staying down.