This post is all about THE BUTTON DOWN COLLAR. A big yes yes in my eyes. I have around 6 shirts that are button down and the rest.....are normal boring shirts. The button add lots of benefits:
- Extra detail to the design
- smarters
- keeps a tie in place
- makes a shirt collar always stay down and never flicks out if you are wearing a jumper over the top.
I believe the button down collar is right up there with the navy blazer, blue jeans, and penny loafers, the
button-down shirt is one of those all-important pieces that remains a
cornerstone of American style. Yet, the button-down’s roots can actually
be found across the Atlantic on the polo fields of England. It was on
land like this that in 1896 John E. Brooks (yes, of that Brooks family)
first came up with idea for the button-down collar. Brooks had been
invited to attend a polo match during his trip abroad and, as he watched
the game, he noticed that the player’s shirts had collars which were
fastened down in a style that he had never seen before.
At the time, polo players were required to wear traditional collared
shirts, but riding around on giant stallions during games would cause
these collars to flap up, creating a visual distraction. To remedy this,
players had buttons sewn onto their collars, fastening them down for
matches. The buttons gave the collars an exaggerated arch -- also known
as a collar roll -- that instantly caught old John E.’s attention. Upon
returning stateside, he brought the design to Brooks Brothers
headquarter and the company began mass-producing their legendary "polo
collar" shirts. At first, the button-down was worn as a traditional
dress shirt, but in the 30’s, tennis players and other athletes across
America were drawn to the shirts--for much the same reason as the
original British polo players. Pretty soon the button-down became the
ultimate casual shirt.
