How to wear an oversize collar | Jess Cartner-Morley

Channel Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a collared top the right side of cute

The collar is the headline on your outfit, and everything else is the small print. A collar can stand as shorthand for your socioeconomic status – white collar versus blue collar – and can even, in the case of a dog collar, vouch for your godliness.

Fashion’s latest collar is most definitely headline-grabbing. The shape of the season is a supersize take on the Peter Pan collar, with a side order of Little Women, as if the lost boys had relocated from Neverland to the prairie. It makes you look as if you are either in a 1980s Laura Ashley advert, or a street style influencer at Copenhagen fashion week. (To be fair, it’s hard to tell the difference at the moment.)

I suspect you are looking at me in this shirt and thinking: Jess, you look a bit silly, and if I wear that I’ll look silly, too. Thanks but no thanks, see you next week. Or something along those lines. And I hear you, I do, but we’ve been through this before, and we both know how it goes. When pussy-bow blouses came back a couple of years ago, we were all like, no way José, Margaret Thatcher was never one of my style icons. And then, within about six months, we were wearing blouses and dresses with, if not an actual pussy-bow, then some kind of trailing silk neck-tie. History proves itself the antidote to dogma, in fashion as in all things. So keep an open mind.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that she wore her trademark contrast collars in order to bring “something typical of a woman” to her plain black robes. To keep a sweet collar such as this from veering into cutesiness, balance it with simple fabrics and shapes. Maybe simple trousers rather than a floor-sweeping skirt. Denim, the ultimate utilitarian fabric, tones down any potential Little Bo Peep vibes here. A root around eBay and Etsy will quickly turn up inexpensive secondhand detachable collars to give an instant new spin on an old favourite but slightly meh crew neck. A good headline grabs your attention, right? And this collar is this season’s big news.

Contributor

Jess Cartner-Morley

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
How to wear a pilgrim collar | Jess Cartner-Morley
They are the new frontier in modest dressing, but avoid any hint of fancy dress

Jess Cartner-Morley

06, Mar, 2020 @1:00 PM

Article image
How to wear: sweatshirts | Jess Cartner-Morley
Easy and practical, this athleisure staple is having a golden age

Jess Cartner-Morley

22, Mar, 2019 @12:59 PM

Article image
How to wear pink | Jess Cartner-Morley
Soft, pretty and perfect for right now – it’s time to rose-tint your wardrobe

Jess Cartner-Morley

14, May, 2021 @12:00 PM

Article image
How to wear: a bodysuit | Jess Cartner-Morley
Welcome back to all-in-one simplicity

Jess Cartner-Morley

19, Jul, 2019 @12:00 PM

Article image
How to wear a glamisole | Jess Cartner-Morley
A camisole can be a bra-strap minefield. This Michelle Obama-approved alternative has more substance

Jess Cartner-Morley

31, Jul, 2020 @12:00 PM

Article image
How to wear leaf prints | Jess Cartner-Morley
There is something about lush greenery that feels right for now, inasmuch as any fashion trend possibly could

Jess Cartner-Morley

17, Apr, 2020 @12:00 PM

Article image
How to wear big sleeves | Jess Cartner-Morley
This year, the volume has moved up the arm – it’s less floaty and romantic, more muscular

Jess Cartner-Morley

14, Feb, 2020 @1:00 PM

Article image
How to wear party pyjamas | Jess Cartner-Morley
Partying from home is the new WFH, and party pyjamas are the after-dark update on sweatpants

Jess Cartner-Morley

18, Dec, 2020 @1:00 PM

Article image
How to wear Breton tops | Jess Cartner-Morley
Reworking a classic that’s (admit it) lost its edge

Jess Cartner-Morley

20, Aug, 2021 @12:00 PM

Article image
How to wear: the boat neckline | Jess Cartner-Morley
It’s the perfect foil for a huge pair of earrings – reason enough to endear the look to me

Jess Cartner-Morley

23, Nov, 2018 @1:00 PM