How to Hang Dress Shirts With a Popped Collar

You can wear a plain T-shirt under a popped collar shirt.

Popped collars have held a place in style history ever since 1950s film star James Dean pulled up the collar of his leather jacket. In the 1980s, the popped collar appeared again when preppies began raising the collars of their polo shirts. Most recently, many fashion brands including J. Crew and Armani showed off popped collar looks during fashion week. Anyone can copy the popped collar look, but in order to get the highest, sharpest collar, you must launder and hang your shirts correctly. Limp, floppy collars won’t stand up to popping. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need

• Iron
• Ironing board
• Wooden hanger
• Spray starch
• Paper clip

Instructions

1. Launder your collared shirt as you normally would, but leave out the fabric softener.

2. Remove the shirt from the washing machine. Unfold the collar before putting it in the dryer. Dry the shirt by itself or with just a few items.

3. Promptly remove the shirt from the dryer to avoid crumpling the collar. Heat up the iron and adjust to the appropriate fabric setting.

4. Pull the shirt over the ironing board, and smooth out the collar with your hands. Use the hot iron to stiffen and straighten the collar. For extra stiffness, douse the collar lightly with spray starch.

5. Hang the shirt on a wooden hanger with sturdy, wide slats. Button the top button on the shirt. Flip the collar up.

6. Hold the ends of the flipped collar together with a small paper clip.

7. Remove the paper clip and unbutton the shirt to remove it from the hanger.

Tips & Warnings

• Try doubling the collars by wearing two polo shirts or a short-sleeved button down shirt over a polo shirt.

References

• Esquire: Popped Collar Cool?
• Wall Street Journal: The Return of a Popped Collar
• The Pendulum Online: Elon Fashion