Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Collar Stays
A practical field guide to selecting, using, and maintaining collar stays, for professionals and businesses that need their dress shirts to look right every day.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Collar Stays
A collar stay is a thin, rigid or semi-rigid strip that slides into a pocket sewn on the underside of a dress shirt collar. It is not a decorative item, and it is not a fashion statement. It is a mechanical component whose only job is to hold the collar's front edge in a specific position relative to the collar band and the knot of your tie. When it does its job correctly, you do not notice it. When it fails, or is missing, the collar will curl, spike, buckle, or droop within minutes of wear.
To understand why a stay is necessary, you have to understand what a shirt collar actually is under tension. A dress shirt collar is made from two layers of fabric, typically a woven cotton, which are fused to a stiff interlining. That assembly is cut into a shape that includes the collar band (the strip that wraps around your neck) and the collar leaves (the points that fold down over the band). The collar is then sewn and, in most dress shirts, is pressed to create a roll — the natural curve that makes the points sit down and gently hug the front of the shirt.
The problem is that fabric, even when fused with interlining, is a textile. It has give. The tension from the collar band around your neck pulls the front edges of the collar outward. A tie knot pushes the front points up and forward.