Collar stays are one of the best kept secrets of well dressed men and if you have
often looked at someone who has had a long hard day at work and their shirt still looks as if it were fresh from the cleaners and their collars are still as stiff as ever then you have probably been looking at someone who knows about a certain something that goes by many names, stays, collar stiffeners, collar bones, collar tabs and knuckles.
They are known by many names but they are essentially the same thing. A short strip of plastic or metal that is between two and a half to three inches long though custom ones can be made to any specification you want. They are rounded on end and pointed at the other end. They are inserted pointed end first into a mans shirt collar into a pocket specially made for them. If used properly they will keep your collar neat and crisp and looking as fresh a daisy even after a long hard day at work or play.
There are mainly two kinds of collar stays - plastic or metal. The plastic ones have the advantage of being cheap and hence it is less painful to lose or misplace a pair of them. Ideally one ought to remove ones collar tabs before one gives a shirt for laundering. If you forget to remove the plastic tabs before you send off your laundry at a hotel and they are not returned it is no big deal. Plastic tabs on the other hand do not last as long and just are not as good to hold as metal ones. Metal tabs can be made of stainless steel, brass or if you are a real high roller you can even have them in sterling silver or even more precious materials such as baleen, horn or even mother of pearl. These kinds of collar tabs are the height of stylish sophistication but one needs to be careful to remove them or to have staff that will take care of this duty for you.
It is vital that shirts are never ironed with collar tabs in them as this leaves an impression of the collar tab on the shirt collar which is unsightly and it is almost as bad to be seen in a collar with a tab mark on it as it is to be seen in a limp and lifeless collar. Some lesser brands of shirts come with built in tabs that cannot be removed but these are best avoided and one should go for shirts that have a pocket that removable collar stiffeners can be inserted into.