Vintage removeable collar question...

[mike]

Hello folks
I've got a question and I hope you can answer it.. so I have been collecting removeable collars for about 2 years. Some are stiff, some stick straight up and are dog earred (or the wonderfully named, patricide collar..!!), some are more recent and emulate more modern looks and feels. But what I'm trying to figure out is, how do you tie a tie when wearing a highly starched original collar that doesn't stick straight up. It doesn't sound like such a hard thing conceptually. But all the collars I have that are stiff from starch, once I put them around my neck and attach them in front and back, it is virtually impossible to flip the collar up to begin with normal tie-tie-ing!

 

[The Wingnut]

That's the hardest part of wearing a detachable collar, getting the blasted tie on properly. You basically have to 'thread' the tie under the collar and hope you got it right the first time with regard to the lengths of the ends.

Practice makes perfect.

 

[Orgetorix]

Mitchell, a member here, posted these instructions over at the Ask Andy forum, and I think they're helpful.

Isn't it hard to get on a tie with these collars?

Like everything else that's great in this world there's a trick to it.

One ties their tie first before attaching the collar. This gives you an opportunity to shape the tie knot neatly and with a proper dimple.

You then have a choice. You can slip the tie's loop under the collar and then attach the collar to the shirt, or you can attach the collar and slip the tie loop under and up to the fold of the collar. In either case the tie knot is positioned at the end of one collar leaf at it's desired location. You attach the collar at the rear stud first. There's enough slack to permit you to push the tie knot up to the collar's fold and make a final position of the knot. Attach the collar leaf end under the knot to the front stud, and then attach the opposite end and draw the tie closed carefully.

It took longer to type these instructions than it does to assemble my collar and tie, which takes me no longer than a minute and a half.

In a few days I'll make a series of photos and post them. It sounds a whole lot more complicated than it really is. And the results are well worth it.

Photos here.

 

[Anthony Jordan]

I found the same problem until I tried Mitchell's advice; whilst I still don't find it easy, the process is markedly improved. I'd strongly advise against flipping up all except soft collars as it almost inevitably crumples, creases or otherwise damages the finish of the collar, in my experience. It is also worth trying thinner (in the sense of less or no interlining) ties, which will make things easier.

 

[Alan Eardley]

The Snapper

I know this will be scorned here, but many years ago when removable collars were the norm a company in Scotland came up with a clip-on tie called The Snapper that solved this problem in a stroke. They were common in the UK until well after WW2. Basically, the tie is already made up, without the loop. There is a spring-loaded clip that contains the front collar stud that closes in a 'dimple' at the back of the tie knot.

So, attach the rear collar stud, with the collar 'down', pass the clip down the front of the shirt collar with the stud through the hole, push the two collar sides over the front stud, press the knot and...snap!

The advantage (apart from the obvious ones) is that the lack of a neck loop makes for a very close-fitting collar. It was such a good idea that people on style forums just hate it...

Alan

 

[Baron Kurtz]

pshaw! Who wants to make things easier, right? The whole greatness of the golden era was that everything was uncomfortable, right? Hair shirt, anyone?

My dad had some 'The Snapper' ties lying around when i was a kid (i assume from when he was pretty young himself). never could work out how the hell they worked. removable collars it is! thanks Alan.

bk

 

[mike]

Very interesting! Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Feraud]

As has been said and from what I read the tie was tied on the collar before attaching to the shirt.

While in Boston I saw a lot of detachable collars at Bobby's shop.

 

[BellyTank]

Tie the tie around your neck, without a collar, get it nicely sorted- loosen it off a little, take it off then stuff it under the detachable collar (only the rear stud fastened to the shirt- and the shirt on at this stage...), fasten the front stud and re-adjust.

Bob's yer Monkey!



B
T

 

[Orgetorix]

I've yet to find a way to get some new stiff collars that doesn't involve my getting killed by the dollar-pound exchange rate and the cost of shipping from the UK. Best deal I've found (Stanley Ley) works out to nearly $30 for one collar.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Detachable collars...

There is a bric a brac stall in my local market that sells secondhand stiff collars. The guy who runs the stall seems to have a regular supply, and as they have obviously been washed, I was curious as to where and how he obtained them. He told me the most incredible thing - he gets the from the local laundry. It seems that some guys take them in to be laundered (as you should with a stiff collar) and never collect them!

That is weird! Thinking about it, taking into account the age of the sort of guys who still wear removable collars, I wondered if they were old guys who had died before they could collect them, or who were so absent minded they had forgotten they had taken them in!

Good source of collars, though. Some of them are virtually as-new.

Alan

 

[Orgetorix]

That's fascinating, Alan. I don't think it'd work over here, though. I don't know that anybody has worn them here in a long, long time. Still, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check.

 

[Orgetorix]

If you live in the US, have a 16" or 16.5" neck, and are interested in buying a stiff collar or two, send me a PM. I'm planning to put in an order to Luke Eyres soon, and looking to split the minimum order of 6 with some people to defray costs.

 

[Vintage Betty]

I tie my husband's ties for him

On highly starched collars and removeable collars.

He curses while I do it. That's his contribution.

Vintage Betty

 

[Cobden]

I tend to thread to tie through first, then (after using a rather odd method involving looping the ties over my ears to stop it slipping out) tie.

 

[Orgetorix]

It's a stiff collar day.