Mens Dress Shirts Collars Varieties | Different Types of Dress Shirts Collars

The Right Mens Dress Shirts Collars
Define Your Face...

The first priority to focus on mens dress shirts collars when buying a new mens dress shirt. It is the collars that are directly under your face. It frames your dress shirts as well as the face.

If it does not complement the shape of your face, then the overall look of your dress shirt will be inappropriate for you.

For example, if the collar is short and small and the face is wide and round, then it will further enhance the size of your head. Naturally, this disproportionate design causes an imbalance to the rest of your dress shirt.

Mens dress shirts collars have the ability to counterbalance strong or weak definitions and structures on your face. For example, a man with strong jawlines should go for proportionately larger collar.

There are two important details on collars that should be explained first before we continue further. Firstly, it is the collar point which is the width of the collar at the front tip. Another detail is the collar spread. This is the space between the two front collar tips creating the inverted “V” shape.

Types of Mens Dress Shirts Collars

Straight-Point Collar
This is a collar style that can match easily with most types of suit or blazer. Its collar point suitably should have a width of about 2 ½ - 3 inches and this would generally fit most average weight man. It also has a much smaller gap between the collar points and so can be worn without a tie as well.

However, there are times when long faced men use a much lengthier collar point more than 3 inches. This is a mistake to make since the collar lies below the face. The collar would create an optical illusion that pulls the face further down and make it look even lankier.

A good balance between the length of collar point and your face will frame nicely against your dress shirt. For example, this picture of Jude Law wearing a straight-point collar with proportionate width against his long face.

Spread Collar
We have seen this collar style getting into trend recently. It has a much bigger gap between the collar points than a Straight-Point Collar. It gets dressier as the spread widens.

The Spread Collar can have many variations by playing around with the width of spread, collar point length, and collar height. The many varieties available can help to frame suitably for different faces.

These are some examples of the many variations of Spread Collars available:

Medium Spread

Wide Spread

Curved Spread

It has to be noted that wide or round faced men should avoid wearing such Spread Collar. It will accentuate the roundness or wide countenance of the face.

Button-Down Collar
There are two types of button-down mens dress shirts collars: The Oxford Button-down and the Hidden Button-down.

Oxford Button-Down Collar

Hidden Button Collar

Generally both Button-down collars are less formal compared to collar types. This is because they are usually made softer, less firm, and unstarched. However comparatively between the Oxford and Hidden Button-down, the Oxford would give amore casual look because the buttons are revealed. It makes the overall look less dressy.

This casual feel makes the Oxford very suitable with Sports Jackets and Blazers. It can also be worn easily without a tie.

Tab Collar
This collar derives its name from the special snap to fasten the collar points behind the tie’s knot. This effect pushes the mens dress shirts collars as well as the tie knot higher up the neck.

Tab Collar

The tab collar has a smaller spread generally and can give a much nattier look for men. With the tab behind the tie knot, it inherently makes your tie prominent with a crispy look.

Tab collars would fit very well for long neck men, slender and wide faced men. Rounded faces might look a bit stifled unless the collar points are made longer to give a longitudinal feel.

Rounded Collar or Club Collar
A seldom mentioned collar among mens dress shirts, the rounded collar generally has a short collar width and a stiff rounded collar point or a softer rounded collar point. It creates a stubby look around the neck.

Round or Club Collar

Of all mens dress shirts collars, the round ones make it look different from the usual mens dress shirts available. It gives a sartorial look comparatively. This collar can only be found mainly among bespoke mens dress shirts.

Pinned Collar
Just like a tab collar, the pinned collar, instead of a tab, has a pin to fasten the collar points. Then the tie knot is fixated in front of the pin. There are a few types of pins available to choose from: the usual plain gold pin, a spring-loaded slide pin, or one that has screws on each end to fit into collar eyelets.

Pinned Collar

Eyelet Collar

The pinned collar also pushes up the collar and tie knot higher up the neckline. With the pin partial revelation of the pin coupled with a high collar makes the Pinned Collar dress shirts a lot more dressy and neat feel.