Embrace or replace?

[Melcombe]

When the time comes, pillage the third to make the other two whole.

My mother had that sort of "system" going on for my school uniform shirts back in the day.

Great Mums plainly think alike. By the time the (grey 'Clydella') shirts arrived with me (with 3 older brothers) the collars were either 'turned' (looking dire) or re-covered from the tail (an 'individual' look even done well). The day I outgrew my siblings was one to remember.

I have a fair number of tunic collar shirts for work. The need for collar studs can be offputting until you get the knack of fastening them. They always come with a spare collar - I've only started to seriously wear out the first ones I bought about 12 years ago. I also have a few spare white cutaway collars which I suppose could extend useful life still further.

I have usually bought mine in the Ede & Ravenscroft sales (being too mean to pay full whack). Their best quality ones are marked down to about £60 in the New Year.

[hectorm]

I have a fair number of tunic collar shirts for work. The need for collar studs can be offputting until you get the knack of fastening them.

I can´t imagine myself wearing detachable collars for work.
A couple of my oldest formal shirts are "tunics" (actually just collar band shirts, since they open all the way down in front). And yes, fastening the detachable collar with studs is a nuisance. Not so much the one at the back, but I have always struggled with the one up front....

They always come with a spare collar - I've only started to seriously wear out the first ones I bought about 12 years ago.

Fraying on my detachable collars is not an issue for me since I wear them so sparingly. But sending them to the right cleaners or keeping them from turning yellowish are concerns.
I know there was a time in which detachable collars were considered a "convenience", but nowadays -although I still think that nothing looks as imposing as one of those polished stiff collars around your neck- I generally stay away from them.

[Mark Seitelman]

* * * I know there was a time in which detachable collars were considered a "convenience", but nowadays -although I still think that nothing looks as imposing as one of those polished stiff collars around your neck- I generally stay away from them.

Agreed.

I tried a few once. Never again.

Detachable collars are best left for the barristers, public schools boys, and the occasional, older, traditional gent, such as Francis Bown (see www.bownsbespoke.com).

[gegarrenton]

Is Bown around anymore? His website hasn't changed in ages.

[Concordia]

* * * I know there was a time in which detachable collars were considered a "convenience", but nowadays -although I still think that nothing looks as imposing as one of those polished stiff collars around your neck- I generally stay away from them.

Agreed.

I tried a few once. Never again.

I might try one next year-- a soft, detachable collar. Apart from being slower to pick up dirt, there is the option of dropping in a wing collar, which I hope to do at an academic ceremony. That's the closest I would be coming to "need" on that front, though.

[hectorm]

Is Bown around anymore? His website hasn't changed in ages.

The last update I can recognize on his bespoke website is from 2011.

[Concordia]

From 2013...

[Mark Seitelman]

Getting back to the issue, I am a firm believer in restoring a shirt if the shirt is worth the time and expense. I just received a couple of shirts with new collars and cuffs from Brooks Brothers.

The repair has rejuvenated the shirts. They are like new. They arrived freshly pressed and folded as if they were just made.

One was redone in the same cloth which was still in stock. The other was given white collar and cuffs in that its unique stripe which is no longer carried.

Furthermore, Brooks does this as an accommodation to the customer "at cost." The charge: $45 for collar and cuffs.

[hectorm]

I am a firm believer in restoring a shirt if the shirt is worth the time and expense....

I agree that´s the bottom line.
In the case of BBs, the $45 for new collar and cuffs on their MTM shirts makes it a no-brainer. Particularly if you had originally selected one of the cloths (like their old silky Sea Island cotton) that made it worth while going bespoke in the first place.