If there is one component of the shirt that has an influence on its look, it's the collar. It is therefore important to select it carefully according to the desired style of clothing, but above all its morphology. Between a suit shirt or a more casual dress shirt, whether you wear a bow tie, a tie or nothing, there is a difference. Today, we offer you elements to guide you in choosing your shirt, and its collar.
The different types of shirt collars
The types of shirt collars are even more numerous than the fingers of the 2 hands. In addition to the size of the collar, which will have to be determined according to criteria such as the size of your head, you must also choose the cut carefully. The best known are:
- The French collar, with points that plunge rapidly forming an acute angle, the most common
- The American collar, similar to the French collar, with bonus buttons
- The Spread collar, the points of which fall downwards from the 2 ends of the neck opening
- The Cut Away, a flatter variation of the spread collar with almost right-angled points
- The narrow collar, which as its name suggests is minimalist
- The Mao collar, this pointless collar with no buttons
- The officer collar, similar to the mao collar but with a button
- The wing collar, with its raised points, which is reserved for the tuxedo
- The Cuban collar, with its specific pleats (watch Scarface if you have a memory lapse)
- The club collar, with rounded tips
- The tab collar, with a tab that connects each end of the collar (Karl Lagerfeld was a big fan)
Choose your collar according to your face
Having a successful style is all about harmony. Just as you choose the size of your men's bracelet according to the thickness of your wrists, the same goes for the shirt collar. Besides the model, the size of the collar will be determined by the size of the head. The size of your collar should be proportional to this.
If you have a small head and you put on a shirt with a big collar, you'll only see this one. On the contrary, if you have a big head and you put on a small collar, your head will look even bigger than it actually is...
The length of your neck also determines the height of the collar. The longer your neck, the more you want to choose a shirt with a raised collar, and vice versa, to balance your face.
The shape of your head and the last morphological parameter to take into account when choosing your collar. Faces that stretch in height must give themselves thickness by opting for a collar that spreads out horizontally, therefore rather open (with a gap between the 2 points). Heads collected, in width, must rush, opting for a closed neck.
The more balanced your head, the greater the choice when it comes to types of shirt collars.
What shirt collar for a bow tie?
For fans of the bow tie, make sure you choose the right shirt collar. The Italian collar and the English collar are to be avoided for such use. With the French collar, which is rather all-purpose, you take no risks. You can also wear a bow tie with a wing collar for special occasions, with a narrow collar (if it is a small bow tie) or a club collar (small bow, or medium ) to play the originality card.