Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we discuss collar clips, how they're different from collar bars, collar
pins, and why you should wear them, how you can style them, and anything else you'd want
to know about this wonderful accessory.
James Bond wore it, If you see Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire, wherever you look, elegant
men, stylish men, men who care about their appearance had this little accessory underneath
their tie that elevates their tie knot and gives them an entirely different look.
Now, many men get the terms collar pin, collar bar, collar clip confused so let's be clear
about what we mean when we say collar clip.
Traditionally, collar clips got their name because it was a simple clip mechanism that
you would put on your collar.
The problem with those is they oftentimes slide around even if you just move ever so
slightly.
As a consequence, the straight collar clip is slightly askew, and it makes you look almost
dumb.
Personally, I was really annoyed by that, and I would always think about "Oh, is my
collar clip aligned or not?" and it just takes away from the entire experience of being in
company and with other people.
Therefore, I designed a collar clip that has actual coils and little clip mechanisms that
help you really grip the collar so you could move it and it stays in place.
On the other hand, a collar bar is a simple bar with screw ends.
In order to wear it with a shirt, you need to have holes in your collar so you can poke
them through.
Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find these shirts and usually, you have to go custom.
A collar pin looks like a traditional safety pin . However, it's slightly different in
the sense that it's specifically designed for a collar.
The advantage is that you do not need any holes in your collar.
On the other hand, you have to poke through your collar, and that may cause damage to
your shirt if it's a very fine shirt fabric.
At Fort Belvedere, we designed safety pins that are very thin, and it shouldn't happen,
but nevertheless, the best way to avoid a damaged shirt collar is to use a collar clip.
Basically, the collar clip is the most convenient among all of them because you don't need an
extra shirt, and you're not going to cause any damage.
It's also super quick to put on.
Also, it creates a visual interest that's very close to your face that is unique and
makes you stand out from the crowd.
So, how do you style a collar clip?
Obviously, it must be worn with a tie and as such, in this day and age, it's a rather
formal accessory.
You have to wear it with a long-sleeved dress shirt and a collar that is not too spread
so you can have the collar clip that pinches in between and keeps the collar together.
You want to use a tie with a thinner interlining such as the ones from Fort Belvedere which
you can find here.
Then, you want to have an oriental tie knot or a four in hand knot.
These two tie knots are the slimmest ones you can find, and all the others are too big.
If you want to learn how to tie the oriental, you can check that here.
The four in hand knot which is a little more asymmetrical can be found here.
You need that slim tie knot because you have a very small opening, and if it's too big,
it's just bulging up and looks weird.
Next, up, you want to make sure that the color of the tie clip matches your accessories.
For example, I'm wearing a gold ring, with a gold clip, and gold cuff links.
The same is true if you have a gold belt buckle or maybe a gold watch.
If you have silver accessories, go with a silver collar clip and if you have rose gold
accessories, go with the rose gold collar clip.
You can find these clips in our shop where we sell them in packages so you get a good
deal, and they're made to last with heavy plating so you can wear them for a long time
and always look dapper.
When you wear a collar clip, it's important not to over accessorize your outfit.
If you have a tie bar, skip it.
It's too much metal that's visible.
On the other hand, a pocket square would work really well especially if it's a simple one,
like the one I'm wearing here right now, works with my shirt, doesn't take attention away
but it's a good harmony.
I'm wearing cuff links with it but no wristbands and overall, a boutonniere probably in you
lapel buttonhole would also not be advisable.
There's simply too much going on around your face otherwise.
Alright, now that you know the basics of how to style a collar clip, let me show you five
specific outfits that you can take exactly as they are or adapt to your taste.
First, we have the business outfit.
Basically, that's what I'm wearing here right now.
It's a white shirt, white pocket square, a subtle tie, blue suit or a gray suit or a
dark suit; it just gives you a very polished look with the collar clip.
As you can see, I'm wearing it in gold because it matches my accessories and I skip the tie
bar, so it's not overly excessive.
Over here, you can see another business outfit, this time with a collar bar, pastel Winchester
shirt, and a striped suit.
Next up is the business casual outfit.
Here I'm wearing a tweed vest in blue with madder silk tie and a silver collar clip and
pair it with white shirt.
The next outfit idea is a casual tweed outfit.
In this outfit, I'm wearing a tweed jacket; it's a houndstooth with an overplaid, and
I chose a rose gold collar clip because it goes well with the warm tones of the jacket.
On top of that, I combined it with a yellow knit tie and used an oriental knot because
it's rather thick, even a four in hand would have been too thick.
For the shirt, it's off-white, herringbone club collar shirt that works really well with
clips.
For pocket square, I chose a madder silk.
You can find all of these accessories in our shop.
When you combine a clip with accessories such as a ring, or cufflinks, try to match them.
The next way to combine a collar clip is with a summer sport coat.
In this outfit, I combined a silver collar clip with a summer sport coat.
I make sure to have rings, cuff links that match the silver tone.
Also, it's with malachite which goes well with my madder silk tie which is purple with
tones of red and green so it ties it all together.
White pocket square for the summer makes it light and a lightly pink boutonniere that
is contrasting and complementing to the tie and the ensemble.
Once again, all accessories are made by Fort Belvedere, and if you want to learn more about
summer sport coats, please check out our in-depth guide here.
Next, up, you can see me in a blazer outfit.
First of all, I chose a Winchester shirt which is a shirt that has a contrasting white collar.
In this case, it is a club collar because it has rounded edges and I chose an English
printed tie with kind of a reddish tone which has some yellowy beige and it goes really
well with a gold collar clip because it's harmonious.
To wrap up the outfit, I chose a navy blue blazer with a very faint windowpane, a white
pocket square from Fort Belvedere and of course, a boutonniere and in this case, the blue cornflower.
You can find all these accessories in our shop here.
Last but not the least, you can have a more casual style with a collar clip.
You can wear it with a cardigan or a sweater or a sweater vest or even just a vest.
If you're in the mood for a very relaxed outfit with a sweater or a cardigan, the collar clip
just adds a little bit of extra pop to your outfit and with the tie, the green, and red,
it harmonizes very well.
So this is a gray and green knitted cardigan made of wool with a vintage silk tie in red
and a shirt with a gold collar pin because it goes well with the red and the green and
it just ties it all together.
If now, you want to buy some collar clips, collar bars, or collar pins that are all well
designed and will last for a while, please check out our shop here.
To learn more about collar pins, you can check out our collar pin guide on the website and
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