The Camp Collar

Spread collar, oxford collar, cutaway collar, tab collar.  These are the shirt collars that dominate our sartorial landscape.  We even see a club collar here and there for good measure, and the Mandarin collar has gained popularity the past couple of years.  Don’t forget the wing-tip collar when Black Tie events come around.

Elvis and his rockabilly cohorts popularized the camp collar shirt in the 1950s.

We’ve returned, fortunately, to an age where men are wearing camp collared shirts again.  The camp collar has its origins in the 1950s, popularized by rockabilly rogues like Elvis and disseminated by off-duty dads who needed something breezy to wear on summer days. Though the collar appears lackadaisical and informal, it can be dressed up and dressed down, looking equally at home with form-fitting pleated trousers and unstructured loafers or rugged chinos and Wallabees.  These days it’s more likely to be found on street style blogs, sported by savvy thrift shoppers, and Dickie Greenleaf wannabes who keep the bebop era alive in their heads.   

Last October, I traveled to Portland, Oregon, and brought home a U.S. Navy-issued Chambray shirt with a camp-like collar (more on that in a second).  Because of its cotton-poly blend, it likely dates back to the 1970s, the last time when camp collars were worn with regularity.  Since then, men have opted for subtle collars because at their worst, camp collars are garish and gigantic.  They’ve come back around for two reasons.  One: They’ve hit the bottom of the barrel at vintage and thrift shops, which makes them an extremely affordable way to experiment with proportion.  Two: They looked relaxed, and go well with the classic silhouettes the men’s clothing industry (both fashion houses and small artisans) is moving toward.  And what does the outdated Heritage aesthetic give way to?  Since they’re still a bit rugged, camp collar shirts are the obvious answer.  They still look masculine, but are more refined and novel than the selvedge tees and short-sleeved henleys of late.

My Navy chambray shirt doesn’t have a camp collar in the truest sense of the style - since it lacks the side clasp for the top button - but like camp collared shirts, the top button isn’t supposed to be buttoned and the placket juts out more than on smaller-collared shirts.  This faux camp collar made me hesitant to pick it up at first since its width was much more formidable than my oxfords, tabs and spreads at home.  That said, it was a style I have always wanted to try.  I wear it once a week, and while it looked great under sweaters in Winter, it’s best on its own with a pair of rugged olive chinos and rolled-up sleeves.  It’s all-American masculinity without the macho posturing of yore because it’s en vogue.