The History of Men’s Shirt Collars Is All About Social Class and Avoiding Laundry

<p>Despite our modern association of epic shirt collars with old-timey garb, collars didn&rsquo;t really show up in the Western world until the mid-1400s. As Sarah Lorriane, an art and fashion historian who writes and talks about historical fashion for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.frockflicks.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Frock Flicks</a>&nbsp;told me in an email interview, &ldquo;Up until the mid-15th century, menswear tended to have necklines that varied from the base of the neck to what we modern people would call a &lsquo;boat neckline,&rsquo; or scoop neckline, and likewise, their undershirts kept a similar profile.&rdquo; As an example, Lorraine points to this painting from the 1200s where,&nbsp;<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maciejowski_Bible#/media/File:Hanun_humiliates_David%27s_ambassadors.gif" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">according to Wikimedia</a>, &ldquo;Hanun humiliates David&rsquo;s ambassadors, by having their tunics and beards slashed.&rdquo; I take this to mean that nobody would&rsquo;ve wanted collars in the 13th century anyway because they would&rsquo;ve just been cut off with what appear to be the 1240 version of those oversized ceremonial ribbon-cutting scissors.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/mel-magazine/the-history-of-mens-shirt-collars-is-all-about-social-class-and-avoiding-laundry-efe9d1e934d3"><strong>Website</strong></a></p>