Collar types

Collars in shirts go with various styles, sizes and colors. Importance of choosing the right one is underestimated by many. Truth is, that a collar lies close to the head, so it makes a strong impression on the apperance of ones face (it is often said that they are a frame to the face). You should pick a style and size that will ephasize your advantages and hide imperfections.

Point collar - One of the most common ones, with points resonably close together. The longer the points, the more they draw attention out of the face, downwards the body. This type of collar, especially a bit more narrowed, is a great choice for wide and short faces, as it tends to add more length there. Following from there, long-faced people should avoid them and rather pick the wide spreaded ones.

Spread collar - Also known as cutaway collar, has points not so sharp as the previous type. As the name indicates, it's wider and leaves more space for a tie. It shows more shirt underneath and brings focus to the upper parts of the body. Adds more proportional contrast to long and narrow faces. It is also important to notice, that spread collars are a bit more classic than modern point collars.

Buttondown collar - Great choice for a less formal apperance. It has little buttons on each of the point tips, allowing it to be buttoned down to the shirt underneath. And it should be always done, wearing this type with buttons undone is in a really bad taste.This type of the collar is nowadays more often seen without a tie, but it's up to you to wear one here.

Tab collar - One of the less popular types, it has a decorative bar behind a tie, that links two collar points together and brings the tie up. Great for an interesting tie knot and rather formal situation. Note that you should never wear this type af a shirt without a tie on.

Those just the basic collar types you should know. Choosing the right one is a personal thing for each person, because of diffrent body characteristics. And remember, It's all about balance, longer faces should be shortened with appropriate collar and vice versa.

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Fitting a shirt

 

A shirt "off the rack" is rarely perfect, It has either too much material on the shoulders, in the waist or length, but is perfect in the other area. Here comes in the wizard of fashion: tailor. It's amazing what can be made with those too big pieces that are laying around. And when buying a new shirt, we should be thinking about a tailor and what can be done to make it perfect. That's why you should always check if it's right in the shoulders and collar, because it's the hardest part to change.

Shoulders -  Make sure that seams end just at the point where your shoulders start to curve down. If the shirt is too wide, the top of your body would look sloppy and give impression of somebody that is "drowning" in his own clothes. On the other hand, if the shoulders seams are too high, the fabric will probably be too tight to wear comfortably and will create some ugly stretches.

Collar should just gently brush on your neck, not clamp on it. Button it up and try to put two fingers between the fabric and your skin - they should fit easily. But remember, that if three fingers can go inside, it might be too loose. Other way that you can check if the collar is too tight is looking in the mirror and turning your head left and right - if the collar is moving with you, then look for a larger one.

Length is important when tucking it in as well as casually leaving it out. Too long and it might look like a dress or pajama and make you look shorter than you are. When tucked, it will create extensive bagginess near the belt and add extra roundness into your figure, which is something that we should avoid at all times. Make shure that the fabric doesn't some out during usual movement (walking, sitting down, dancing) when tucked in.

Sleeves and cuffs - Clothing designers usually associate sleeve length with collar size, there are usually two lengths per collar. There might be a situation, where all the shirts with a perfect collar will have non fitting sleeve. There would be no way of avoiding service from an experienced tailor. There is a little trick that you can do to check the size: Stand up straight with your arms hanging down your body, cuffs should end on your wristbones. Then, raise your arms and check how much the sleeve gets pulled back, if it's more than an inch, then you need to get them tailored. Cuffs should be tight enough to lay on your wrist bones, but loose enought to have some space for a watch.

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