I love me a good button down collar. I typically lean towards traditional/classic preppy, so a well put together button down collar always gets my attention.
First of all, let’s get the disadvantages out of the way because that will go pretty quick. There’s only two disadvantages I can think of. First, the button down collar is considered less formal and tends to fall on the casual side. Right, I get that, but whatever. Unless you work in an office with a ultra-rigid, ultra-conservative dress code, or you regularly attend formal events, you can toss that out the window. Yes, the button down collar is less formal, but it can still be dressed up very well as you can see in the image above. The second disadvantage is with the buttons themselves. They’re very small and can be a pain to get buttoned. Because they’re so small and difficult to deal with, if they’re not sewn on properly, they can fall off. So just be careful and keep an eye on the them.
Now for the advantages. The biggest reason I like button down collars is the collar points stay down where they’re supposed to! If you’ve ever struggled with trying to keep your collar points inside your cardigan or v-neck sweater, you know where I’m coming from. The only person that can let collar points fly is Ellen DeGeneres, and she’s even toning it down a bit. Stop looking like Ellen (even though she’s pretty amazing).
For men, collar points outside your sweater tends to look a bit sloppy. Since you’re taking the time to choose your wardrobe, start thinking about the details.
Another great thing about button down collars and their more casual nature is that they transition from the office to the bar more seamlessly and don’t look as ‘stuffy’ as their traditional collar counterparts. Besides, if the button down collar is good enough for Nick Wooster, it’s good enough for me.
One last very important detail, the collar buttons are not optional. If they’re on your shirt, they must be buttoned! I’ve seen unbuttoned collars twice in the last few days and it kills me. Consider it the same as leaving your fly unzipped.
