What are the 6 types of collars for shirts?

The six you will be offered nearly everywhere are point, semi-spread, cutaway or spread, button-down, club and wing. They differ in one measurable way — the spread, meaning the angle between the collar points — and that single dimension drives everything else: how large a tie knot sits comfortably, how wide your face reads, and how formal the shirt looks with the jacket open. Everything beyond those six is a variation on spread, point length or stiffness.

What are different types of shirt collars called?

By their shape, mostly, and the names are more consistent than they look. Point and spread describe the angle; cutaway is spread taken far enough that the points sit almost horizontal; button-down names the fastening rather than the shape; club describes rounded points; wing describes the upstanding tips worn with black tie. A tailor will also talk about collar height and tie space, which are the two measurements that actually get adjusted for you.

What collar is trending right now?

Spread collars have run wide for several years and the movement since has been back toward moderate — a semi-spread with a slightly taller band. That is worth knowing and worth largely ignoring. A collar is close to your face in every photograph you appear in for the life of the shirt, and it is one of the few garment details where the right answer is decided by your proportions rather than by the year.

Which collar suits my face?

Broadly: a wider spread balances a narrow or long face, and a narrower point lengthens a rounder one. Height matters as much as spread and gets discussed far less — a taller collar band suits a longer neck and crowds a short one. This is the kind of thing better decided with the shirt cloth in the room, which is what a fitting is for.

Can I have collars and cuffs made to my own spec?

Yes — that is most of what bespoke shirt-making actually is once the body measurements are taken. The Boss Tailor cuts tailored shirts across Bangkok to whatever collar height, spread, point length, stiffness and cuff style you specify, and the choices are recorded with your pattern so a later order repeats them exactly without the conversation happening twice.

Shirt Collar and Cuff Types Explained

Spread is the whole argument

Every collar name you will hear is a description of one thing: the angle between the two points. Narrow that angle and you get a point collar; open it and you get a spread; open it far enough that the points sit almost horizontal and it is called a cutaway.

That single dimension decides three separate things — which tie knots sit properly in the gap, how wide your face reads in a photograph, and how the shirt looks with the jacket open, which is how it will be seen for most of a day in Bangkok.

The six, and what each is for

Collar	Spread	Tie knot	Who it suits
Point	Narrow	Small knots — four-in-hand	Lengthens a rounder face. The safe default
Semi-spread	Moderate	Almost any knot	The one to choose if you are choosing once
Cutaway / spread	Wide	Large knots — half or full Windsor	Balances a narrow face; looks deliberate
Button-down	Narrow, soft roll	Best with no tie or a knitted one	Casual by origin; never with a dinner jacket
Club	Rounded points	Small knots	A period look, and a strong one
Wing	Upstanding, folded tips	Bow tie only	Black tie and nothing else

If you are choosing once and want to stop thinking about it: a semi-spread. It takes any knot, it suits most faces, and it is the only one on that list that never looks like a decision.

The two measurements nobody mentions

Collar height — the depth of the band around your neck — matters as much as spread and is almost never discussed off the rack, because off the rack it is fixed. A taller band suits a longer neck and visibly crowds a short one.

Tie space is the gap between the collar points where they meet at the top. Too little and a knot rides up; too much and there is a visible triangle of shirt above it. Both are adjusted for you in a bespoke shirt and neither is adjustable afterwards.

Stiffness, and why it matters more here

A collar holds its shape because of the interlining inside it, and the same argument that governs jacket fronts applies at a smaller scale: a fused collar is glued, and heat and humidity are what undo glue. In a city at thirty-five degrees, a collar that has begun to bubble at the points is a common sight and an unfixable one.

Soft, unfused: collapses gently, ages well, reads relaxed
Lightly fused: the usual compromise
Removable stays: worth asking for — they outlast sewn-in plastic

The jacket-scale version of the same argument is infull canvas, half canvas and fused.

Cuffs

Cuff	What it does
Barrel, one button	The everyday cuff. Cleanest under a jacket sleeve.
Barrel, two button	Slightly deeper, holds the watch side better.
Mitred barrel	Angled corners. A quiet detail that reads as made-to-order.
French / double	Folded back, needs links. Formal, and warmer.

The measurement that matters is not the style, it is the opening. A cuff should be snug enough that the shirt does not slide over your hand when your arm drops, and loose enough to pass over a watch. That is one number and off-the-rack shirts get it wrong constantly.

What to do with this

Decide the collar before the cloth, not after. It is the one shirt decision that is genuinely about your face rather than your taste, and it is much easier made with a mirror and a tape in the room than from a list.

We cut tailored shirts to whatever collar and cuff you specify, and record the choices with your pattern so the next order repeats them —business and formal shirts for what goes under a suit, and where we come to youfor how the appointment works. The cloth side is oncloth and construction.

Book a fitting

The Boss Tailor · All Bangkok - fittings at the customer's hotel, office or residence ·+66911051152

Questions we are actually asked

What are the 6 types of collars for shirts?: The six you will be offered nearly everywhere are point, semi-spread, cutaway or spread, button-down, club and wing. They differ in one measurable way — the spread, meaning the angle between the collar points — and that single dimension drives everything else: how large a tie knot sits comfortably, how wide your face reads, and how formal the shirt looks with the jacket open. Everything beyond those six is a variation on spread, point length or stiffness.
What are different types of shirt collars called?: By their shape, mostly, and the names are more consistent than they look. Point and spread describe the angle; cutaway is spread taken far enough that the points sit almost horizontal; button-down names the fastening rather than the shape; club describes rounded points; wing describes the upstanding tips worn with black tie. A tailor will also talk about collar height and tie space, which are the two measurements that actually get adjusted for you.
What collar is trending right now?: Spread collars have run wide for several years and the movement since has been back toward moderate — a semi-spread with a slightly taller band. That is worth knowing and worth largely ignoring. A collar is close to your face in every photograph you appear in for the life of the shirt, and it is one of the few garment details where the right answer is decided by your proportions rather than by the year.
Which collar suits my face?: Broadly: a wider spread balances a narrow or long face, and a narrower point lengthens a rounder one. Height matters as much as spread and gets discussed far less — a taller collar band suits a longer neck and crowds a short one. This is the kind of thing better decided with the shirt cloth in the room, which is what a fitting is for.
Can I have collars and cuffs made to my own spec?: Yes — that is most of what bespoke shirt-making actually is once the body measurements are taken. The Boss Tailor cuts tailored shirts across Bangkok to whatever collar height, spread, point length, stiffness and cuff style you specify, and the choices are recorded with your pattern so a later order repeats them exactly without the conversation happening twice.