STIFFENERS - COLLAR STAYS FOR MAN'S DRESS SHIRT: SHAPE, DIMENSIONS, MATERIALS AND MUCH MORE CHOICES

The ultimate in men's sartorial elegance: shirt with an impeccable collar.

Italians are maters of elegance, tailoring, precision and perfect details that give the look that extra quid.
Among details that make differece, there are the tips of the collars of the shirts, which must be well extended.
But how to keep them well pulled all day, between various moves? It says “ no pain, no gain!”.
For this time, we dispel the myth: just use the collar stiffeners for men's dress shirts, which guarantee an excellent neck while remaining in comfort-zone. These shirt accessories, are inserted in the appropriate collar pocket so as to stretch it and avoid creases or folds not very in line with the classic style.

1. The choice of stiffeners - collar stays

On the market are available lots of shapes, dimensions, thicknesses, materials, colors of stiffeners: how to choose?

1.1. Shapes and dimensions

Beginning with shape and dimensions, during year there was an evolution. The oldest collar stays that we have been able to trace back through the requests of our customers, belongs to more than 100 years ago, and had a trapezoidal shape like this illustrated below.

The boom of collar stays bones stiffeners took place in the 90s, the years of bespoke, custom shirts. In this period we received the most disparate requests dictated by the aesthetic sense of the tailor and the type of fabric (which is why in our stiffeners range, there are 30 different sizes ).

In recent years, however, especially due to standardization resulting from fast fashion and the drastic decrease in the presence of tailors, the best-selling stiffeners are those with dimensions mm 12x61 e mm 12x68 (our modells S21 and S22), which fit well in standard French necks.

The choice of size is mainly dictated by the size of the channel in which the splint must be inserted (potentially every tailoring/ shirt can have its own model): the width can vary from mm 7 to mm 18.

The greater the width, the greater the rigidity of the collar, and this is why the choice is also dictated by the type of fabric used:

• lighter fabrics will need narrow stiffeners;
• heavier fabrics will need wider stiffeners;

But beware: very wide collar stays, could lead to excessive rigidity, and in some cases be uncomfortable, looking aesthetically too artificial.

This is why we recommend a width of 12 mm, comfortable, adaptable and invisible.

In terms of length, it can vary from a minimum of 50 mm to a maximum of 116 mm. The speech is similar to that of the width: we recommend a length of 60-68 mm, in order not to be uncomfortable but at the same time do its job.

N.B. It is good to make sure that the edges of the stiffeners are perfect and do not have burrs (they are of quality), which risk damaging the fabric. The collar stays produced through a special mould ensure precise edges, unlike those produced with the die.

1.2. Thicknesses

About the thickness, what you need to know is that it is to match the type of cloth.
Very thick sticks on light fabrics, in addition to attract attention, will give an artificial appearance, risking to worsen the final appearance instead of improving it.
The most commonly used thicknesses are th. 25/100 and/or 35/100 (mylar) and th. 50/100 (PVC).

1.3. Material

A quality material is essential for the shirt collar to be perfect.

The materials available for the stiffeners are: plastic, metal, brass, steel, mother of pearl, silver and so on. Obviously the prices between the various materials are very disparate.

The most common are plastic stiffeners no doubt.

In particular, we recommend them in PVC or MYLAR of 1° choice and recyclable, since they last over time and do not damage, are light, economical and give the right level of rigidity.

In recent times, a particular request that comes increasingly often, is the collar stays in compostable plastic (PLA). The production of the stiffener in this material is possible and after several tests, we succeeded in the intent. Despite this, we do not prefer this alternative with sustainable material for a simple reason: the stiffener is a shirt accessory with a specific function, which must last over time. It is not packaging (in fact it is not even subject to CAC italian taxation). For this reason, a biodegradable material is not very suitable.

Not very suitable (in our opinion) is also the metal, which over time and with moisture could create rust and stain the fabric.

Very beautiful and elegant are the stiffeners in mother of pearl, for a high class detail.

One of our most unusual creations was the lasered wood stiffeners with customization.

1.4. Colors

The most used colors are white/ neutral as adaptable to every color of the shirt, from the lightest to the darkest.

The classic PVC has a white color, while the color of Mylar tends to sand color but the shade may vary from game to game: it is therefore not manageable. Either way, they're both neutral.

You can request super colored and personalized stiffeners: here are some examples made on request of our customers.

2. Precautions for use

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