Button Up or No?

July 20, 2009
Call me obsessive/barmy/downright crazed/just a tad…sad/what you will but I think this is an issue worth a post and a natter. I expect you’ll agree that shirts constitute a staple section of any self-respecting man’s wardrobe, and that said section is most probably comprised of the traditional oxford-collar long-sleeved shirt. But it’s not the sleeves I’m deliberating over here, more the bloody collar.

4afa7 topmanbuttonedup

Topman Lens (left to right): Dexter Wong, Carolyn Massey

Granted this all may seem a little vacuous and could well lead you to believe I’ve nothing more productive to do of a day but ponder an array of inane topics including the one at hand but do please hear me out, as I don’t think I’m alone in this dilemma. Do you wear your collar buttoned-up entirely or just to the base of the neck (and I’m talking sans neck/bowtie here) ? The reason I ask is that it strikes me as being the ‘done thing’ amongst vaguely style-conscious men the world over. Ever since the indie-influence and the onset of world-domination instigated by Topman I’ve not a button left undone. Anyway, the question I really wanted to pose was not if you do it or not but rather do you think it suits you? As I’ve tried on numerous occasions only to find that, on enacting the compulsory (and fleeting…please don’t think me tiresomly vain) pre-departure glance in the mirror, it all appears as though I volunteered to be the subject of the world’s first head-shrinking experiment.

So, button-up to the max, as it were, or just, well, don’t go there?

Image from Brandish

  • LJ July 20, 2009 at 10:11 pm

    up and down. both work!xx-LJ from SOS!

  • yahki July 20, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    i find that, since i've been buttoning to the top, i can't look at myself with even one of the buttons undone. It looks far too sleazy.. i feel like a late 1970s porn star.

  • Style Salvage Steve July 21, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    I always say mix it up. That said, it really depends on the shirt collar. I have a few shirts which just have to be buttoned up to the max and others which just look silly like that.

  • Frederik Sisa July 21, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    I'll only button all the way up if I'm wearing a tie…which is rarely as I hate having anything closed in around my neck…or want to achieve a formal effect. I find that leaving the collar button undone creates a relaxed look, which is much more suitable to my day-to-day.Having said that, I do have a rather unique shirt with three clustered buttons at the collar that simply doesn't work when left open.

  • Alex Bilbie July 27, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    For me it comes down to whether or not I think the shirt I'm wearing looks better done up or not so really I guess it's more a confidence thing. I do think some guys that button up look quite uncomfortable (either because they're getting a bit hot or because to some extent buttoning up os a bit taboo like wearing a bow tie) however when it's pulled off right in my opinion it looks really good.

  • duchamp July 28, 2009 at 1:30 pm

    I really like all 3 styles but if i had to pick i would go with the black jacket–super cool

  • Daniel Alec August 8, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    For me it all depends on the collar size. If the collar is big (or even of a 'normal' size) I don't button up, as my neck does not look good. However, I am likely to button a shirt with a small/thin collar akin to the Opening Ceremony x Uniqlo shirts.