I’ve been out of college and in the working world for a few years now, and I’ve found that the dress shirts I got when I first started are beginning to get a bit old. They still work in a pinch, but the collars are a little frayed and the colors are a bit washed out. Although I don’t wear dress shirts as much as I used to, I’ve decided that now would be a good time to get some new new ones – new year, new shirts, I guess.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I get almost all of my shirts from Proper Cloth. There are tons of online made-to-measure shirting companies out there, but I’ve gotten very comfortable with Proper Cloth and they’ve provided me with great shirts over the years.
As I’ve discussed previously, I usually pick one of two collar styles for my shirts – the President Spread for formal shirts and the Soft Ivy Button-Down for casual ones. These have worked well, although there have been times that I wished that the President Spread collar was a bit bigger. I’ve been enjoying the trend of wider lapels and ties these days, and have been looking for a larger collar to stand up to these proportions. Proper Cloth has had a few large collar styles for a while, but they all feature an extreme cutaway shape, making them a bit too trendy for my tastes. Fortunately, they recently released a new collar style that fits the bill quite well.
The Roma spread collar is definitely more substantial than the President Spread; the collar points are ½” longer and the collar sits a touch higher on the neck as well. I think it’s more approachable than Proper Cloth’s large cutaway collars, but if you’re just getting into the dress shirt game it might be safer to go with the President Spread. That said, if you’re looking for a classically-proportioned collar with a bit more size, this is a great one. To me, it’s a bit more like something you would see on Mr. Wongolini or Ethan Newton. It’s got a bit more of a presence on the face, but without being overly trendy. After all, the collar is the frame for the face.
Now that I’ve worn these a few times I can confidently say that I’ve found a new usual for my formal shirts. Expect to see photos of this collar in action in the coming months. If you haven’t given Proper Cloth a try yet, you can use my referral link to get $20 off your first shirt.
