The 10 best men's collarless shirts
The grandad-collared shirt is gaining momentum, powered by the popularity of Peaky Blinders and the fact that, with fewer of us working at the office, the collar and tie have never felt more redundant.
The look is divisive, though. Does eliminating the defining feature of a shirt (its collar) render it useless, like removing the handle from a teapot? I don’t think so. You just need to know how to wear them – for example, to take the stuffiness out of a formal suit.
My advice, if you are new to collarless shirts, is to opt for a vertical stripe. It will take the emphasis away from the neckline and will cut the risk of looking like a dental hygienist.
Luca Faloni’s Versilia in khaki stripes, cut from pure Italian linen, and Octobre Editions’ cotton/linen Benny in red, with stripes and mother-of pearl buttons, are two of my favourites.
For a more formal look you can try a contrast collar stand (the binding-band around the neckline). APC’s Mark is a slick example of this, as is the linen striped shirt from designer JW Anderson’s collaboration with Uniqlo.
At the casual end of the spectrum NN07, a Copenhagen-based firm which specialises in wardrobe staples, has a genius checked flannel shirt/grandad shirt hybrid.
Plain grandads require a little more confidence to pull off. H&M, Zara and M&S can all be relied upon for quality – M&S has a very versatile one in a lightweight corduroy.
When taking the plunge, my key advice is to always wear the top two buttons undone, with or without a white T-shirt underneath.
A world without collar
Justin checked flannel shirt £120 by NN07 (mrporter.com)
Mark shirt £160 by APC
Premium linen oversized-fit striped shirt £34.90 by JW Anderson X Uniqlo
Cotton corduroy grandad collar shirt (dark indigo) £29.50 by Marks & Spencer
Versilia linen shirt (striped khaki green) £125 by Luca Faloni
Collarless striped shirt £94.95 by Scotch & Soda
Oxford shirt with stand-up collar (sky blue) £19.99 by Zara
Cotton linen Benny shirt (red stripes) £85 by Octobre Editions
Regular-fit grandad shirt (dark green) £17.99 by H&M
Grandad collar striped cotton shirt (blue) £90 by Oliver Spencer (mrporter.com)
