4 ms·

You've activated my pet peeve! A shirt with buttons, cuffs, and a collar is called a "shirt" without modifiers, or a "dress shirt" if you are in an aggressively

by juped 11y ago

You've activated my pet peeve! A shirt with buttons, cuffs, and a collar is called a "shirt" without modifiers, or a "dress shirt" if you are in an aggressively casual-dressing context where someone thinks it means "t-shirt" (which is really properly referred to as a "t-shirt"). "Button down" is a type of collar that can be buttoned down (hence the name), not a type of shirt. A "button down shirt" would logically be a shirt with a collar that buttons down, which is really a less-formal variant (it's a convenience for the physically active).

wil421 11y ago
Everyone calls them button downs. Whether it's correct or not it's what most people say. The retailer I order most of my clothes from has sections for dress shirts and casual button downs. Casual button downs can be wire tucked or untucked IMHO while dress shirts need to be tucked usually.
lottin 11y ago
You're right about the button down. Technically a dress shirt is the more formal type of shirt that is designed to be worn tucked in and with a tie, therefore it has longer tails and comes in various collar sizes.
mcv 11y ago
I'm just using that description because the article did. In Dutch, shirt and t-shirt are synonymous, while a shirt with buttons is called "overhemd" or "bloes"/"blouse". I suspect that literally speaking, "hemd" would be the Dutch translation of "shirt".
unprepare 11y ago
I say 'button ups' for dress shirts, since button downs refers to buttoning down the collar. Wondering how you would react to 'button ups'
chmielewski 11y ago
A "polo shirt" is one where the collar points button to the shirt. Named for polo players whom had an aversion to their collars flying up while playing.
- DanBC 11y ago
  That's not a polo shirt. A polo shirt is a cotton t shirt, with a collar, and a button up neck. The collar is soft and un-boned and is not button down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_shirt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_shirt EDIT: although you're right that button down collars did start in polo.

by juped 11y ago

wil421 11y ago

Everyone calls them button downs. Whether it's correct or not it's what most people say. The retailer I order most of my clothes from has sections for dress shirts and casual button downs. Casual button downs can be wire tucked or untucked IMHO while dress shirts need to be tucked usually.

lottin 11y ago

You're right about the button down. Technically a dress shirt is the more formal type of shirt that is designed to be worn tucked in and with a tie, therefore it has longer tails and comes in various collar sizes.

mcv 11y ago

I'm just using that description because the article did. In Dutch, shirt and t-shirt are synonymous, while a shirt with buttons is called "overhemd" or "bloes"/"blouse". I suspect that literally speaking, "hemd" would be the Dutch translation of "shirt".

unprepare 11y ago

I say 'button ups' for dress shirts, since button downs refers to buttoning down the collar. Wondering how you would react to 'button ups'

chmielewski 11y ago

A "polo shirt" is one where the collar points button to the shirt. Named for polo players whom had an aversion to their collars flying up while playing.

DanBC 11y ago
That's not a polo shirt. A polo shirt is a cotton t shirt, with a collar, and a button up neck. The collar is soft and un-boned and is not button down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_shirt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_shirt EDIT: although you're right that button down collars did start in polo.