In clothing, a collar is the part of a

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. I ...

, dress,

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

blouse A blouse (blau̇s, 'blau̇z, ) is a loose-fitting upper garment that was worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary It is typically gathered at the waist or hips (by tight hem, pleats, parter ...

that fastens around or frames the

neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...

. Among clothing construction professionals, a collar is differentiated from other necklines such as

revers A revers or rever is a part of a garment that is reversed to display the lining or facing outside. The word is borrowed from French ''revers'', which is reflected in the final ''s'' being silent. The most common form of revers is the lapel. The ...

and lapels, by being made from a separate piece of fabric, rather than a folded or cut part of the same piece of fabric used for the main body of the garment. A collar may be permanently attached to the main body of the garment (e.g. by stitching) or detachable.

Word usage

The Oxford English Dictionary traces ''collar'' in its modern meaning to c. 1300, when collars served as neck-protecting armour.

History

Today's shirt collars descend from the rectangular band of linen around the neck of 16th century shirts. Separate ruffs exist alongside attached ruffled collars from the mid-16th century, usually to allow

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...

ing and other fine finishing, or to make collar-laundering easier.Compare: During the medieval period and sporadically thereafter, people wore ornamental collars as a form of jewelry.

Terminology

* ''Band'' – a strip of fabric that fastens around the neck, perpendicular to the body of the garment, to which a collar proper may be attached. * ''

Collar stiffeners Plastic collar stay removed from shirt collar Underside of a men's shirt collar showing removable collar stay Metal collar stays are often used to replace plastic ones. Adjustable-length collar stay A collar stay, collar stick, collar tab (Bri ...

'', ''bones'' or ''stays'' – strips of

baleen Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and ...

, metal,

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

, mother of pearl, or plastic, rounded at one end and pointed at the other, inserted into a man's shirt collar to stiffen it and prevent the points from curling up; usually inserted into the underside of the collar through small slits but sometimes permanently sewn in place. * ''Points'' – the corners of a collar; in a buttoned-down collar, the points are fitted with

buttonhole Buttonholes are reinforced holes in fabric that buttons pass through, allowing one piece of fabric to be secured to another. The raw edges of a buttonhole are usually finished with stitching. This may be done either by hand or by a sewing machine. ...

s that attach to small buttons on the body of the shirt to hold the collar neatly in place. * ''Spread'' – the distance between the points of a shirt collar. * ''Stand'' – the band on a coat or shirt collar that supports the collar itself.

Types

Collars can be categorized as: * ''Standing or stand-up'', fitting up around the neck and not lying on the shoulders. * ''Turnover'', standing around the neck and then folded or rolled over. * ''Flat or falling'', lying flat on the shoulders. Collars may also be ''stiffened'', traditionally with

; modern wash-and-wear shirt collars may be stiffened with interfacing or may include metal or plastic

collar stays Plastic collar stay removed from shirt collar Underside of a men's shirt collar showing removable collar stay Metal collar stays are often used to replace plastic ones. Adjustable-length collar stay A collar stay, collar stick, collar tab (Bri ...

. Shirt collars which are not starched are described as ''soft collars''. The shape of collars is also controlled by the shape of the neckline to which they are attached. Most collars are fitted to a

jewel neck The neckline is the top edge of a garment that surrounds the neck, especially from the front view. Neckline also refers to the overall line between all the layers of clothing and the neck and shoulders of a person, ignoring the unseen undergarmen ...

, a neckline sitting at the base of the neck all around; if the garment opens down the front, the top edges may be folded back to form lapels and a V-shaped opening, and the cut of the collar will be adjusted accordingly.

Collar styles

Names for specific styles of collars vary with the vagaries of

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. In the 1930s and 1940s, especially, historical styles were adapted by

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

s; thus, the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

bertha collar — a cape-like collar fitted to a low scooping neckline — was adapted in the 1940s but generally attached to a V-neckline. Some specific styles of collars include:

Buttoning

Conventions on fastening the buttons on a collar differ globally. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the top button is virtually always left unbuttoned, unless one is wearing a

necktie A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat, and often draped down the chest. Variants include the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cra ...

, but unbuttoning two or more buttons is seen as overly casual. By contrast, in Slavic countries, including at least Poland, and Ukraine, the top button is buttoned even in the absence of a tie.

Extended meanings

From the contrast between the starched white shirt collars worn by businessmen in the early 20th century and the blue chambray workshirts worn by laborers comes the use of collar colors in job designation, the "workforce colorwheel". Examples are '' blue-collar'', '' pink-collar'' and '' white-collar''.

References

External links

Collars on Boys Shirts and Blouses
From the Historical Boys' Clothing website {{DEFAULTSORT:Collar (Clothing) Neckwear Necklines History of clothing