Darcy detachable collars - Washable Vs. Starched?

[BruSwain]

Yesteryear,
How tall is the extra high double "casual"? I am really intrigued by it. I like my collars TALL, but it looks a bit tall. However, the double round also looks really tall on their site, and have found it almost a little TOO short, compared to the collar stands of my jackets. Any chance of getting a shot of you wearing the extra high double "casual"?

I have one of the casual models, here's a quick selfie (with apologies for my unshaven neck). It's tall, 2.5" at the back.
Bruce

 

[Yesteryear]

It will be some time before I make the how-to video since all my collars are clean at the moment. When that time comes I will post it as a new thread, but in the meantime I'll just describe my technique here:

Instructions for Starching/polishing 100% Cotton Detachable Collars:

What you will need:
*Your washed/dried detachable collars.
*Powdered 100% corn starch.
*Clothing iron and board.
*Collar mold (something to wrap your collar around as it dries- I use a small cylindrical sauce pan)
*Several clothes pines
*Paper towels
*Water spray bottle
*Hair dryer (optional to reduce drying time)

Prepare Starch Solution:
1-Mix an approximate ration of 1/9 powdered corn starch to cool water solution in a sauce pan. Mix solution until all of the starch has dissolved into the water, it will resemble milk at this point.
2- Put the sauce pan on the stove and slowly heat it up while consistently stirring the solution. In time the milky solution will start to become transparent and viscous. Keep heating and stirring until it is a hazy/creamy substance. It's now finished. Keep the solution warm to prevent it from hardening.

Starch Collar:
3- Place the dry collars into the prepared starch solution and mix lightly to saturate.
4- Allow collars to sit in solution for a few minutes as they soak up the starch.
5- Remove collars from the starch solution and scrape off the excess with your hand until it stops dripping.
6- Place starched collar onto a paper towel sheet and lightly dab/press the surface with the towel to remove the heavy starch coating.

Iron Collar:
7- right after step 6 take the collar to the ironing board and smooth it out with your finger tips to remove any large wrinkles between the two fabric layers.
8- Set the clothing iron to its lowest setting, hot enough to boil water but not so hot that you risk scorching the collar.
9- Right before ironing the collar quickly spray the collar with water to create a layer of pure water separating the hot iron from the starch solution. You don't want to soak the collar through, just wet the top surface. This will allow the iron to smooth the collar without contacting the starch solution, which would cause peeling of the starch.
10- Quickly slide the iron, point first, across the collar lengthwise- while moving the iron across the collar twist it side to side so that the leading point moves up and down across the collar's height. This is important, as simply sliding the iron across the collar will cause it to bunch up. If done properly you will get a perfectly smooth collar, it may take several tries to get a feel for it.
11- Now repeat steps 9 and 10 moving in the opposite direction across the collar. It is important to spray the collar between each iron pass to prevent peeling of the starch.
12- Flip the collar over and repeat these ironing steps until the collar is perfectly smooth.
13- Finish ironing with the collar's outer (visible) surface exposed for the polishing steps. Make sure you clean off any starch residue on the iron before polishing the collar.

Polishing:
14- With the collar sitting smooth on the ironing board allow the outer surface to dry completely. The collar does not need to dry out completely, only the exposed surface should be dry to the touch. I use a hair dryer to speed up this process, it only take several minutes. If you iron the collar before the outer surface has dried the starch will peel and flake.
15- Set the iron to its maximum heat setting and turn on the steam.
16- Firmly slide the iron across the collar lengthwise while steaming lightly. Pass the iron straight across this time, since the collar is already smooth the twisting motion is not necessary.
17- Continually pass the iron over the collar lengthwise with sufficient pressure and light steam. The collar should be developing a nice glossy finish with each pass. Press very hard with the iron and concentrate the pressure towards the back (to prevent snagging the fabric at the front of the iron).

Shaping the Collar:
18- Note: The collar must be folded into shape very quickly to prevent the fabric from bunching after cooling off. Pass the iron over the flat collar several more times to heat it up. You should see steam coming off the collar from the internal moisture, right after heating it up quickly flip the collar over (now the polished side is facing down) and fold the inner band up along the fold line (You may also want to place a pressed paper towel strip between the collar band and turndown to act as a spacer). Now place the collar mold (small saucepan) at the center of the folded collar and pull the ends up around the cylinder.
^This should all be done while the collar is still steaming for best results, otherwise the collar fabric might bunch up.
19- Now clamp the collar into place on the collar mold with the clothes pins, secure them on the collar ends to prevent clamping on the smooth turndown fold.
20- Wait approximately 24 hours for the collar to completely dry.
21- After the collar has dried out completely it can be gently peeled off the collar mold.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now finished and ready for use!

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Wonderful! Thanks! I love it. It looks great, and great on you.

I have one of the casual models, here's a quick selfie (with apologies for my unshaven neck). It's tall, 2.5" at the back.
Bruce
View attachment 24022

 

[Yesteryear]

In case you're wondering how the professionals do it, here is a great video:

[video=youtube;k0OOSOk4Ftk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0OOSOk4Ftk[/video]

 

[BruSwain]

In case you're wondering how the professionals do it, here is a great video:

[video=youtube;k0OOSOk4Ftk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0OOSOk4Ftk[/video]

There, that's what I need! An industrial press that heats to 200 degrees. No wonder our piffling department store steam irons can't cut it. Many thanks for posting that video.
--Bruce

 

[volvomeister13]

There's a specialty dry cleaner here in Pasadena said to be the only American cleaners who will properly starch stiff collars. I took my one stiff collar to them. When I got it back from them it was flat and soft, no better than if I had put it in the wash and exposed it to minimal spray starch. They had no idea what they were doing; they also stained a white linen cap of mine (which another dry cleaner was thankfully able to fix). I'd say if you're not in England, just starch them yourself or else go with the washable version. I have two of Darcy's washable spearpoint collars that I use with a collar bar. I'm very pleased with those.

I once came across a blog post buy a Catholic priest on how to do old-fashioned stiff starch for clerical collars, but his method could be used for regular collars too. I remember thinking that his method seemed simpler than I would have expected. I'll dig it up in case anyone is interested.

 

[Yesteryear]

I moved my info to this thread for organization, it's more on topic:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?80861-Starching-Detachable-Collars

 

[Dreamofgilgamesh]

No need Volvomeister, i already posted the link on the previous page.

 

[BruSwain]

There's a specialty dry cleaner here in Pasadena said to be the only American cleaners who will properly starch stiff collars. I took my one stiff collar to them. When I got it back from them it was flat and soft, no better than if I had put it in the wash and exposed it to minimal spray starch. They had no idea what they were doing; they also stained a white linen cap of mine (which another dry cleaner was thankfully able to fix). I'd say if you're not in England, just starch them yourself or else go with the washable version. I have two of Darcy's washable spearpoint collars that I use with a collar bar. I'm very pleased with those.

I once came across a blog post buy a Catholic priest on how to do old-fashioned stiff starch for clerical collars, but his method could be used for regular collars too. I remember thinking that his method seemed simpler than I would have expected. I'll dig it up in case anyone is interested.

Volvo,
I have one of the Darcy spearpoint collars but never use it; don't you find that at only 1.25" in height the edge of the loop of a necktie protrudes at the bottom of the collar? Or do you use a very skinny tie with that particular model?

Or maybe Darcy was copying this:

 

[Hap Hapablap]

I personally have found that the collar height/stand on a lot of these collars are barely tall enough to complement a nice, tall jacket collar stand. I only wear vintage cravat style ties with detachable collars, and have come to learn the exact reason for these ties' narrow width at the neck, as well as their lack of major lining/interfacing.

Volvo,
I have one of the Darcy spearpoint collars but never use it; don't you find that at only 1.25" in height the edge of the loop of a necktie protrudes at the bottom of the collar? Or do you use a very skinny tie with that particular model?

Or maybe Darcy was copying this:

View attachment 24081

 

[Yesteryear]

I hate it when a tie starts peeping out the bottom of my detachable collar. Speaking of that I wasn't too thrilled with the back design of the Darcy double round collar, where the turndown retreats up right below the stud. If my tie sinks too much in the collar it becomes visible back there.

Perhaps it won't be a problem, I am yet to really wear the collar apart from just trying it on. We'll see this weekend when I don my Sunday best.

 

[BruSwain]

I hate it when a tie starts peeping out the bottom of my detachable collar. Speaking of that I wasn't too thrilled with the back design of the Darcy double round collar, where the turndown retreats up right below the stud. If my tie sinks too much in the collar it becomes visible back there.
View attachment 24156
Perhaps it won't be a problem, I am yet to really wear the collar apart from just trying it on. We'll see this weekend when I don my Sunday best.

I have that Darcy collar, too, and agree with your criticism of the design.

And while I'm at it, I wish modern collar-makers would copy the old Slidewell feature of a flap over the rear buttonhole to prevent the tie from getting caught on the stud!

 

[BruSwain]

I personally have found that the collar height/stand on a lot of these collars are barely tall enough to complement a nice, tall jacket collar stand. I only wear vintage cravat style ties with detachable collars, and have come to learn the exact reason for these ties' narrow width at the neck, as well as their lack of major lining/interfacing.

Hap,
Yes! What I like about vintage collars is their height. If I could have my way they'd all be about 1.75 - 2" in height, so as to rise above the coat collar suitably but not so high as to look really odd. The Darcy "casual" is 2.5" and even for me is on the extreme side.

When you say "cravat" may I assume you mean an ascot-type tie?

Bruce

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Bruce,
I normal necktie, named so for reasons beyond my knowing. I guess do to it's floppy nature and shorter length. But its length (many inches shorter than the average necktie), interfacing (little if any) and shape (normal "body", narrow "neck" and flared reverse end) make them unique to say the least. Definitely made to accommodate the stubborn nature of a detachable collar and high-rise trousers. Luckily these ties are still readily available at vintage shops. Another decade or so and they may be a bit more scarce! See link:

https://baronkurtzvintage.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/mcgoldrickbacteriatie.jpg?w=545&h=773

Hap,
Yes! What I like about vintage collars is their height. If I could have my way they'd all be about 1.75 - 2" in height, so as to rise above the coat collar suitably but not so high as to look really odd. The Darcy "casual" is 2.5" and even for me is on the extreme side.

When you say "cravat" may I assume you mean an ascot-type tie?

Bruce

 

[Yesteryear]

Bruce,
I normal necktie, named so for reasons beyond my knowing. I guess do to it's floppy nature and shorter length. But its length (many inches shorter than the average necktie), interfacing (little if any) and shape (normal "body", narrow "neck" and flared reverse end) make them unique to say the least. Definitely made to accommodate the stubborn nature of a detachable collar and high-rise trousers. Luckily these ties are still readily available at vintage shops. Another decade or so and they may be a bit more scarce! See link:

https://baronkurtzvintage.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/mcgoldrickbacteriatie.jpg?w=545&h=773

That's what I need! I hate most of my ties, even when tied even they are so darn long they look ridiculous. Usually I tuck them into my trousers and just hide it with a waistcoat! lol

 

[BruSwain]

Gotcha, Hap, thanks for the clarification. I have none of those now but once had a bunch of them that belonged to a grandfather, probably from the '30's and '40's and in what one would call piquant patterns (or "wild" ties if you prefer).

One of these days I really must learn to sew. First thing would be to remove the linings from most of my ties. IMO they're usually way too thick. I prefer a tight, small knot, pretty much impossible with any contemporary department store necktie. You could make a nice set of hand towels from the amount of material lining modern ties!

Bruce

 

[esteban68]

I have a few modern seperate collars and quite a few original ones and without doubt the old originals are FAR better if it were me I'd get an original I liked then have them copied exactly.

 

[GHT]

I have two of Darcy's washable spearpoint collars that I use with a collar bar. I'm very pleased with those.

Never been able to get the collar bar to fit correctly, it always looks askew.

I have one of the Darcy spearpoint collars but never use it; don't you find that at only 1.25" in height the edge of the loop of a necktie protrudes at the bottom of the collar?

Can't say that I have ever had that problem with the Darcy spearpoint. You can see it in my avatar, when enlarged.

 

[volvomeister13]

Sorry for the late response. I definitely have to make sure I get the tie firmly up in the collar so it doesn't show. I bought several 1920s ties and 1930s ties recently and now those are all I wear. Frankly I hate modern ties and will stick with vintage or equivalent reproductions from now on. I haven't had a problem and my vintage ties don't seem particularly narrow.

However, I sent one to Luxire to get an attached collar shirt made in the same style with a slightly higher collar back. The Darcy collar is a tad low. Overall though it's a great collar.

Volvo,
I have one of the Darcy spearpoint collars but never use it; don't you find that at only 1.25" in height the edge of the loop of a necktie protrudes at the bottom of the collar? Or do you use a very skinny tie with that particular model?

Or maybe Darcy was copying this:

View attachment 24081

 

[Yesteryear]

Yesteryear,
How tall is the extra high double "casual"? I am really intrigued by it. I like my collars TALL, but it looks a bit tall. However, the double round also looks really tall on their site, and have found it almost a little TOO short, compared to the collar stands of my jackets. Any chance of getting a shot of you wearing the extra high double "casual"?

Bruce already posted a great close up of the double "casual" collar, so I'll post a distance picture of the collar. I added a sepia tone for that 'vintage' effect, the collar looks very Edwardian if that's the style you're going for. It's not the most clear picture, but you get the idea.
I am happy with this collar, though I think it will cut my head off if I look down too fast.