Everything you need to know about collar stays

Perhaps you have never heard of collar stays, those small strips inserted into a shirt collar. No matter: we are going to explain everything here.

The origin of the word comes from corset makers who, between the 16^e and 19^e centuries, used real whale baleen as strips inserted into their corsets. From the 19^e century onwards, steel strips began to be used, but the term baleen remained.
It should be noted that the term baleen also refers to the articulated ribs of an umbrella.

Collar stays, though hidden, are essential in a shirt because they keep the collar points straight, preventing them from curling up, which is visually unflattering.

There are two types of collar stay: sewn-in stays and removable stays. Let us look at these two options.

This is essentially the type of collar stay for those who do not want any fuss. The stays are sewn into the shirt collar and you do not need to worry about them; you can act as though they were not there. You do not have to remove them when you put your shirt in the washing machine, and they fulfil their role of supporting the shirt collar points.
The drawback is that if a stay breaks or becomes misshapen over successive washes, you are stuck with it. Besides, there is a better option, but we will come to that.

Removable collar stays

This is the type of collar stay preferred by connoisseurs. You can remove and replace the stays in your shirt collars as you wish, slipping them into the small slots designed for that purpose. Of course, they must be removed before each wash and put back once the shirt has been washed and ironed. However, this requires little effort and will ensure your collar stays last well. And if one of the stays should nevertheless break or become misshapen, you can replace it without your shirt suffering, thereby extending its lifespan.
At Hast, our dress shirts are fitted with removable collar stays, made of plastic, as is customary for collar stays. Plastic stays will give your collar points excellent support.

However, there is an even better option: removable mother-of-pearl collar stays, or gold ones.... These stays will give your collar points superb rigidity, and you will also have a beautiful accessory in the collar of your shirts, a secret only you will know and which, you will see, will bring a certain satisfaction. With a beautiful white shirt or blue shirt, the effect will be most elegant.

Before concluding, note that not all shirt collars require collar stays: this is the case for button-down, Mao and band collars. So do not be surprised if you do not find the famous small removable strips on these styles.

So, for those of you (and I am sure there are some) who have one day thrown away the small white plastic strips you find in the collars of Hast shirts, thinking that, like pins, they were part of the shirt packaging, next time think twice: they are there for you:)