Men... do you gravitate towards button-down collars or collars with no buttons?

A

Aunt Marg

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The started thread on tucking in or leaving shirts hanging out prompted me to start this conversation.

Speaking on behalf of my husband, he will not wear a shirt without a button-down collar. Dress, casual, sports, they all have to have button-down collars.

He says a proper button-down collar always looks fresh, clean and neat.

Ladies... do you have a preference when it comes to style of collars on men?
 

I've been wondering how many men still wear ties?
I think the new casual, comfortable look has sort of taken over!
However, This is the Southwest. Perhaps on the East Coast men dress more formally.
 
Gaer said:
I've been wondering how many men still wear ties?
I think the new casual, comfortable look has sort of taken over!
However, This is the Southwest. Perhaps on the East Coast men dress more formally.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, ties are still alive and well here, though I see lots of open collared shirts worn with sports jackets, but that look never did anything for me, as I much prefer a true formal look in that regard.

To me not wearing a tie when donning dress pants, dress shoes, and a formal sports jacket, is the equivalent of donning a tuxedo with no bow tie.
 

I'm not thrilled with the look of button down collars, but unbuttoned, they give me the impression (now a days) the wearers are our necessary computer geeks. :)
 
I don't like the tips on the collar that button down,
but I am never sure of American descriptions of some
clothing, a button down shirt to me is one that buttons
from the collar all the way to the bottom!

As for "Wing Tip" shoes, there I am lost, I imagine the
Greek God, Mercury with his shoes that have real wings
on them.

So my shirt collars are ironed and don't need the help
of a button to keep it neat and my shoes have laces
instead of wings!

I also have several ties, but don't really wear any these days.

Mike.
 
Informal—-Button down sometimes with a sweater
Formal—-No button down and with a tie
I also like Banded collars and Buttonless collars without a tie.
I have a few Nehru collar shirts that I wear only in the winter to help keep my neck warm.
 
When I first started out in the world of business, I wore mostly button down, which went along with the narrow lapel suits of the 60's.
Then came the polyester 70's with big floppy shirt collars, wide ties and wide lapels on suits. We looked like clowns but thought it was cool.
80's and 90's were the years of conservative traditional collars, with classic cut suits and subdued ties.
In the 2K's I could see the light at the end of my career tunnel. VP was as high as I was going on the corporate ladder so I stopped wearing suits and made business casual my battle dress.

Today, I wear shirts with no collar. I haven't owned a tie in years. I wear clothes to please myself and keep from scaring babies.
 
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And here I thought men don't wear shirts anymore when I seen this started thread slump down to the bottom of the page. :)

Interesting insight into collars, buttons, and styles.

Mike. You got it, when I mentioned "button-down", I was referring to shirt collars with button holes on the tips.

My husband will not wear polo style shirts, because the collars are too floppy, which he says looks unkempt, and as for normal (button-less collars), hubby says those spread out too far once the shirt has been worn for any length of time.

Nice hearing from you all!

I knew I could count on a few men dropping by to post their take on the matter, and I'm glad you did. :)
 
sp2.jpg
There's a reason why I don't have any button down collars, I will come to it later.
The image shows a tie-bar and the shirt collar is known as a spearpoint, my favoured style.
sp1.jpg
Most of my shirts have detachable collars, this photo shows the spearpoint in more detail.
sp4.jpg
The shirts that have a collar attached I buy mostly from The Darcy Shirt Co.
sp5.jpg
The reason for showing you this photo is so
that you can see my preference for the double cuff.
sp6.jpg
And I said previously that I would explain why I don't have any button down collars
These are called, collar stiffeners, they slide into the underside of the point of the collar,
creating a sharp appearance. A button would get in the way.
 
sp7.jpg
This collar style is known as The Penny Round.
I have a couple from John Clothier. It's a play on words,
John Collier had a chain of men's tailors years ago.
sp8.jpeg
Here's the Penny Round again, this time with stripes.
I rather like two tone shirts and shoes, you've probably noticed.
 
horseless carriage said:
View attachment 169210
There's a reason why I don't have any button down collars, I will come to it later.
The image shows a tie-bar and the shirt collar is known as a spearpoint, my favoured style.
View attachment 169209
Most of my shirts have detachable collars, this photo shows the spearpoint in more detail.
View attachment 169211
The shirts that have a collar attached I buy mostly from The Darcy Shirt Co.
View attachment 169212
The reason for showing you this photo is so
that you can see my preference for the double cuff.
View attachment 169213
And I said previously that I would explain why I don't have any button down collars
These are called, collar stiffeners, they slide into the underside of the point of the collar,
creating a sharp appearance. A button would get in the way.
Click to expand...
A lovely rundown, Horseless, and one I just knew you'd be a great spokesperson for.

I've never seen metal collar stiffeners before. What a delightful set that is!

Gosh, tie-bars, I haven't seen a tie-bar in ages! Something else I see rarely anymore are cufflinks.

I remember when men prided themselves with having a set of fine silver or gold cufflinks.
 
I totally agree with you @drifter

Anything goes these days...almost.
Some open collar. Some not.
Some button down. Some not.
Some wear socks some go without.
Some get quite creative with patterns and colors, vests and draped scarves around the neck (like artsy-ish)

This!
A nice t-shirt under a sport coat works.
I like that look
8be5f810df4951ffafde83993818a290.jpg b42cb1d8716e8b451ea18893743de706-1.jpg
 
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Gaer said:
I've been wondering how many men still wear ties?
I think the new casual, comfortable look has sort of taken over!
However, This is the Southwest. Perhaps on the East Coast men dress more formally.
Click to expand...
It would be my observation would be that guys my age don't dress to impress (e.g., not particularly buttoned-down or tied up). Younger guys and gals seem to go casual. That said, you should know I don't spend time looking at men and, thus, my impressions on how they dress is suspect. You don't see many guys seeming to dress like fashion models but, again, I've no idea on what men's fashion models dress like.
 
iu
 
drifter said:
I don't care for the center shirt or the tie but the dude is a handsome sort. I like the rig on the right
but the left hand shirt will do.
Click to expand...
The collar tips don't come down on either side of the tie. I've never seen a collar like that. I hate it. Collar tips basically frame your tie, so for me, they've gotta come down on either side of the knot.

And like horseless carriage's top picture in post #12, I do prefer a tie bar to a button-down collar. Serves the same purpose but looks a lot classier and it's a bit more comfortable, too, imo.
 
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