There is perhaps no more casually elegant shirt collar than the camp collar. Constructed without a collar band (the strip of fabric that fastens around the neck), the soft collar is part of the same piece of fabric as the body of the shirt, giving it a truly seamless look. Generally worn unbuttoned, they have a tendency to spread wide. As Dean Martin proved, they can help separate a gentleman from the pack.
Just so; look at Fred Astaire, see the Times Literary Supplement’s report on The Fred Astaire Conference, held last month at Oriel College, Oxford.
“… fashion writer G. Bruce Boyer, for example, […] in his paper on sartorial style, [noted] how Astaire’s soft-collared shirts and comfortable sports jackets came to replace the high starched collars and constricting suits of his Europeanized counterparts. Astaire’s wardrobe, like his blithe personality, graceful movement, and natural vocal style, represented a New World of playful ease against an Old World of entrenched formality”.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article4343804.ece
Comment by mq, cb — July 17, 2008 @ 2:38 pm