The London Lounge

Is there any reason to wear the BD collar unbuttoned?

Doing so is ubiquitous now.

That bothers me. Plus you lose the nice collar curl.

What's the point?

On me, it looks awful with a tie. And I don't button collars of any sort if there's no tie to support.

uppercase wrote:Is there any reason to wear the BD collar unbuttoned?

Doing so is ubiquitous now.

That bothers me. Plus you lose the nice collar curl.

What's the point?

Dear Uppercase,

Gianni Agnelli famously did so. And some people think it is sprezzatura. I dislike this kind of statement, it looks forced. And awful.

Cheers, David

Oh, you meant with the points unbuttoned. That was so far off my radar I never thought to answer it.

No.

s there any reason to wear the BD collar unbuttoned?

Maurizio Marinella once explained to me that the Neapolitans did it to save money. What have two sets of shirts made when one will do? The large collared Neapolitan shirt with points at 9.5 -10 cms works well as the point's end and buttons slide comfortably under the jacket and are not seen. So it looks like a dress shirt. But the moment hot weather comes and the jacket comes off..it gets buttoned and looks like a sports shirt.

Cheers

alden wrote:

s there any reason to wear the BD collar unbuttoned?

Maurizio Marinella once explained to me that the Neapolitans did it to save money. What have two sets of shirts made when one will do? The large collared Neapolitan shirt with points at 9.5 -10 cms works well as the point's end and buttons slide comfortably under the jacket and are not seen. So it looks like a dress shirt. But the moment hot weather comes and the jacket comes off..it gets buttoned and looks like a sports shirt.

Cheers

Indeed, I forgot the hidden button down technique. I have some of these shirts, and actually, I prefer this button down style. I usually keep them buttoned, too. In very warm weather, wearing shorts or at the beach, why not leave them unbuttoned.

Cheers, David

Yes, Alden's Neopolitan approach makes sense to me. So really they do not unbutton those buttons intending to show them like some sort of casual fashion statement.

Apparently, the Neapolitan BD collar point length and button placement is intended to hide the unbuttoned buttons under the suit coat; the unused buttons don't show.

And with the Neapolitan approach, when a BD is worn sans coat, they do button the collar buttons.

That is interesting and makes sense to me. Why wear a BD and forfeit the beautiful collar roll? (And BTW, alot of BD shirt makers don't achieve that roll; it's something of an art).

Anyway, the way the shorter Brooks BD collar, for example, is cut , the buttons will always show and so I share Davidhuh's view that unbuttoned BD collars are an affectation and should be avoided.

....even though I have read somewhere that no self respecting Italian would ever wear a BD buttoned, Alden's Neapolitan insight shows that to be wrong. And I am no Italian nor fashion dish.

So back to buttoning up my BD collars!

But which raises a new issue, should you wear a BD collar - with the points buttoned down- under a coat - and we generally agree that a BD looks good under both a sports coat and suit jacket - but where the point buttons show?

Or should a custom cut BD shirt collar be properly designed to hide the BD buttons under the coat, ala Neapolitan style .

Phew.

UC

For the last few years I have had all my shirts cut with a Neapolitan BD collar pattern and button placement. With a suit or odd jacket it works brilliantly well.

Only my tailor and shirtmaker knows (the truth) for sure...

That makes perfect sense to me: you can achieve that beautiful roll of the BD while not exposing the buttons, nor announcing that you are wearing a BD with a suit which would be frowned upon in a town, say, like London. Best of both worlds really.

Alden, do you happen to have a photo handy of you wearing a BD under a coat illustrating that ?

[quoteAlden, do you happen to have a photo handy of you wearing a BD under a coat illustrating that ?
][/quote]
I second uppercase's request , kindly !

regards
Vassilis

Most photos and even videos of me will do fine...I am wearing a BD collar most o f the time.

Uppercase , I think this is an example of what Michael is talking about ...





regards
Vassilis

Lovely coat!

Looking good there!!

Out of interest, his long do you make your collar point length to achieve that?

TIA.