What's the deal with button-down collars on mens' dress shirts?
From H&M to Club Monaco and French Connection, it seems like you can't get a decent button-down shirt without an extra two buttons holding down the collar these days (and yeah, I know there are probably better places to get shirts, but these three serve as a sort of "What's Trending" in fashion right now).
I've never really liked that look, but couldn't understand why.
Fortunately, Wikipedia came to the rescue and traces their invention back to the Brooks Brothers, who introduced the look in the late 1800s. It was modeled after the shirts polo players wore, and is still considered less formal than collars without buttons.
That's right: there are more buttons, but it is less formal. And the consensus seems to be that you shouldn't wear a tie with this look either. To paraphrase a user on Metafilter: Girls say this looks tacky.
So that's it: No button-down collars for this guy.
-Parker
PS: While we're talking about collars: Has anyone been watching Boardwalk Empire? I love how all the guys wear shirts with the detachable collars. Where can I get one of those?