I don't pin.  To me, it has a similar visual aesthetic as overly closed quarters on a coat.  I tend to prefer fairly prominent spread collars, button down collars (with sportcoats), and rarely wear point collars.  I don't mind seeing them on others, and sometimes make a mental note that somebody has done it particularly well; just not for me.

Some thoughts on pinned collars, which I wear perhaps five to ten percent of the time:

1.  Perfection, or close to it, is achieved with a point collar with leaves at least 3 1/4 inches long (3 ½ is even better) at the points, contoured along the outer edge (i.e., slightly concave from the sides of the neck to the points), and forming an angle of about 45 degrees at the neck; a tie that both produces a small, tight four-in-hand knot and has some width to the front blade; and a pin short enough to pull the collar leaves snugly immediately under the knot.

2.  Another almost as smart a look is achieved with a medium spread collar forming an angle of no more than about 90 degrees at the neck and leaves of 2 ½ or 2 3/4 inches in length at the points.  When pinned under a tie as described above, the look is much the same as medium length tab collar but with the added glint of the pin.  Wider spread collars with long points (I think of these as Italian spread collars) can also be worn pinned to good if a bit dramatic effect since the points flare widely under the pin.

3.  Longer club collars as described by FNB work well; however, I’m more fond of shorter club collars pinned at the rounded “points” with a short pin.

4.  I’m not a purist who insists that slide-on or screw end collar bars are anathema, but I do much prefer true safety pins in sterling or gold/gold filled.  If not using a safety pin, I limit myself to slide-on bars in heavier weights with coiled ends that mimic the ends of a safety pin; and I own no shirts suitable for wear with screw end bars as I find the necessary eyelets in the collar too limiting.

5.  As to the risk of damage to the collar from the use of safety pins, it can be virtually eliminated by passing the pin between stitches in the collar’s edge stitching where there is already a pilot hole made by the sewing needle.  All my shirts are edge stitched at about 1/4 inch, and that’s the best position for a pin, I think.  But how to hit that exact position while looking in a mirror and around and under the tie’s knot?  Here is the perfect use for slide-on collar bars.  Using a bar of the appropriate length, “pin” the collar under the tie knot at the optimal position.  The collar leaves will then be creased/indented by the bar at the right place for a true pin to be inserted.  Take off the shirt and tie and pass the safety pin between the edge stitches where the collar leaves are already creased.  When the pin is removed, the holes between the edge stitches will be enlarged enough to be seen readily and utilized when the shirt is put back on and the tie retied.  This whole operation takes no more than five minutes, but if you don’t have the time just jam the pin through the collar trying your best to pass it between edge stitches and trusting that, even if you miss, the holes will close up when the shirt is washed.

6.  Pinned collars work especially well when a vested suit is worn as they help achieve the desirable arch in the tie without the use of a tie clasp that might interfere or look too busy with a vest.  On the other hand, a tie clasp peeking out from a vest with the top button undone can be attractive in a foppish sort of way.  I never, however,  wear both a pin and a clasp at the same time; my wife doesn’t believe me, but some combinations are too much for me.

6.  Caveat: good collar pins have very sharp points, and blood on the collar from a punctured finger tip could mean having to rethink the entire day’s wardrobe.  When time is truly of the essence, I don’t even think about collar pinning.

Last edited by oldog/oldtrix (2009-01-23 08:52:02)