Stand up collars

They are removable collars. Tom Wolfe, who's a dandy to the point of ennui wears them[i].

I don't think they are always removable. They are just the old style of collar. In fact I think the removable type are usually turn-down because they hide the buttons that hold them on. I just saw The Time Machine last night (which I thought was pretty good, and quite stylish at times) and Guy Pierce wears stand up collars. They are a lot like a normal spread collar except not meant to be turned down over the tie, and obviously a bit shorter and with a clean surface to what is in their case the outer side of the collar. You have to starch the hell out of them because there is no place to put collar stays. They have evolved - with modifications for comfort - into the wing collar shirt seen in tuxedo wear. I have been trying to find one of these shirts for a while with no success. I think I will have one made when I have places to go in formal dress. j.

He did say they were older, so they might be removable collars. They actually used to be made out of paper, because people could only afford one or two nice shirts and went through collars like that (I'm snapping). I'm sure nowadays, you can find a bit more fashionable (and comfortable) cloth style. Good luck and for what it's worth, I like the look. I'd be careful about when and where to wear it.

They are Imperial Collars and the forerunner for Wing Tips. I wear them often and almost always with formal wear (Morning Coat, Dress coat and DJ). They are heavily starched by an expert laundry. If interested I can tell you where to buy or bespoke them, and which laundry to use.

As you can see I use both very deep ones 2 1/2 in and less deep ones.



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Originally detachable collars were made of linen. They were mostly stand-up collars like those pictured above but by the late 19th and early 20th century both stand-up and turned-down versions were available. Arrow made a lot of them here in the US. [With the very high stand-up collar it could be worn "as is" or ironed to turn down the tips. Modern "wing-tip" collars are not constructed quite like that and so miss the authentic "look."] Eventually someone came up with the idea of bonding linen to celluloid (or "printing" a linen pattern on celluloid) and that was popular for a while although probably not much among the more elegant set. These are still being manufactured...I talked to a sales person at a company here in the US a year or two ago. Paper collars were also available (not sure when but early 20thc century anyway) probably because linen collars required labour intensive washing and starching procedures as well as a special machine to press properly. These became popular for actors and people wanting a collar on only an occasional basis. They too are still available. Detachable cotton collars both of the kind that need special treatment and pressing as well as more informal styles are still available in both stand-up and turn-down styles. Check out the links on this page...some are defunct but some are still good:http://www.costumes.org/History/100pages/collarsnew.htm Also http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/store/001571.php And I have gotten some here: http://www.classicwardrobe.co.uk/Des...e-Collars.aspx and here: http://www.vintageshirt.co.uk/ The latter make some pretty nice, authentic, detachable collars...again some of them need special machine to starch and press properly. I've heard tell that there are only two or three of these machine left in the world--one in the US and several in the UK. Hope that helps.