White shirt collars and cuffs have traditionally been associated with formal day wear, but in my opinion that is not the only time to wear them. With a patterned or colored shirt body, they bridge the gap between day and evening and that makes them a good choice for events with early curtains that leave no time for dinner let alone a change of clothes.
Personally I prefer white collared shirts to have link or turnback cuffs that are meant to be worn with cuff links. There are after all no button cuffed shirts in the formal repertoire. The collar should not be overly spread either or it will not work with a bow tie (evening being the one type of occasion where the bow should never raise an eyebrow).
In the photograph, a shirt with white collar and cuffs, antique jade cuff links, Albert Thurston barathea braces and a red satin bow tie with white spots.
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12 comments:
Was this worn with a suit, or with a blazer and tan (or cream) trousers?
A blue jacket and gray trousers.
Should one strive for a contrast in weave as well? My presumption is that a tightly woven poplin for the cuffs and collar would work well with anything from a coarse twill to oxford shirting.
Hi Will,
Is it wrong or perhaps gauge for the cuffs to match the shirt fabric rather than be contrasting white?
Thanks!
That's a really nice shirt. I don't have any white collar and cuff shirts, since they don't give me the option to wear without a tie and they tend to draw the wrong kind of attention on people my age. But I do like them. I find that they work best if there is white in the shirt's body, whether it's striped, checked or end-on-end. I find that poplin works best for this kind of shirt. Most other cloths aren't formal enough for the style. Definitely not oxford. My dad has a blue oxford cloth shirt with white button-down collar and button cuffs, I think from Brooks Brothers. I don't think it's very effective.
Vijay, the versions worn with morning dress always have white cuffs. Nothing wrong with cuffs matching the shirt body per se, but why would you do it?
Matt,
We actually shot that photo in the morning and I removed the tie (gasp) for the afternoon. The shirt looked great tieless under the jacket but you are right in that you wouldn't want to wear it without one.
By coincidence I wore my first bow tie today with nearly the same outfit.
Shows me I'm doing something right!
Will - as you know, the reason why the version worn with morning dress has a white collar is that it's a separate stiff collar which attaches to the shirt body with studs. This means you can wear a colourful striped shirt with a white collar.
My preference is actually for self-coloured cuffs, on the basis that the collar is separate but the rest of the shirt is a single garment. White cuffs seem like a bit of a pointless affectation - unnecessarily showy without a real purpose. However, no comments about affectation for wearing a stiff collar in the first place!
Sir Fopling has it right here surely. If you wear a contrasting patterned/solid shirt and white detachable stiff collar with morning dress, the cuffs are part of the tunic shirt and should be the same. On the wider issue of contrasting collars outside morning dress, it's all very much a matter of personal taste of course but they have been brought into mild disrepute by the Donald.
Speaking of evenings and bow ties and such...
I have been invited to a garden wedding that will start at at 6 pm. It will be in early September (after Labor Day) in a warm-to-hot locale. When asked for the dress code, the bridegroom said, "think cocktail party."
What to wear, I wonder. Black shoes, of course. White shirt with French cuffs seems appropriate. Navy blazer (either lightweight wool or linen) and grey tropical weight trousers? Silk bow tie or necktie?
Decisions, decisions... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
You knew I was going to recommend a bow tie didn't you? :-)
Yes, I did. I think I'll go with a Churchill dot in navy. It should make a nice transition from late afternoon to evening.
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