# Why Bespoke Shirts Part II - Design Your Collar



## Alexander Kabbaz (Jan 9, 2003)

*Why Bespoke Shirts - Part II*​This is a bit of a departure from the rest of my _Why Bespoke Shirts_ series in that this is an interactive section. Here you can design and experiment with various collar styles limited only by your imagination and your shirtmaker's abilities.

I invented the Collar Renderer for a program one of my m-t-m shirt companies ran for stores across the United States back in the 1980's. Its purpose was to permit rudimentally trained store personnel to show their customers what their finished collar would look like. As well, it provided my production department with the specifications necessary to create the correct collar. It looks like this:

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In order to use the Collar Renderer, you need to have Adobe Acrobat. You should first download and print a few copies of the Renderer by clicking here:

Instructions for use are simple and are printed at the bottom of the Renderer page. Here is what it looks like in use:

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Here are a few examples with specification details:

A basic Point Collar, 3" Point Length with a #3 spread:
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A medium Spread Collar, 2.75" Point Length with a #6 spread:
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A Cutaway Collar, 3" Point Length with a #12 spread:
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The same Cutaway Collar with the point length shortened to 2.5":
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A bit of variation created by the use of an eraser and a quarter or half dollar to round the points yields
A Traditional Round Collar, Nominal 3" Point (before rounding) and a #4 spread:
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Other variations can be created. For example, the line from "A" to the Dot could be drawn curved using a compass, resulting in a "Pat Riley" collar. The line from the Dot to point "B" can also be curved to give a bit of style to the collar.

Putting the Renderer into practice, here is a constructed Medium Spread Collar, 3.25" Point Length, #7.5 spread:
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Finally, creating collars with tie space is easy. Draw your collar as specified. Then, using scissors, cut the paper vertically, passing through Point "A" and the arrow above the words "point length". Then move the two halves apart a bit and paste them down on another paper. Here's the final result:
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Hope you have fun with this little shirtmakers' toy. It will serve you well ... and create not only new collar designs, but total apoplexy for your shirtmaker as well!

Copyright Â© 1987-2005 Alexander S. Kabbaz. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for AskAndyAboutClothes.com and Style Forum.net members to print a few copies for their own personal use. A note to shirtmakers: Commercial use of the contents hereof is Strictly Forbidden. Be on notice that we shall pursue all remedies necessary to preserve our copyrights in this material.

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