Bespoke Shirts
The Cutaway Collar Shirt.
The most assertive collar in professional dress — bold, modern, and unambiguous.
The cutaway collar takes the spread of the spread collar to its logical extreme. The points are cut so far apart — nearly horizontal, sometimes literally horizontal — that they almost disappear when worn, leaving the front of the shirt and the tie knot fully exposed. It is the most contemporary of the formal business collars, and the most assertive: a cutaway collar on a well-fitted shirt communicates that the wearer has thought carefully about their clothing. At The Black Lapel, bespoke cutaway collar shirts are made with the collar angle set to your specific proportions, so the result looks intentional rather than extreme.
What the cutaway collar communicates — and when to wear it
The cutaway collar is a strong statement in professional dress. It has a modernity that the spread collar lacks and a boldness that clearly distinguishes it from the point collar's conservatism. It is appropriate in any professional context where dress is formal — law, finance, medicine, the corporate world — but it is particularly associated with confident, polished dressing rather than conservative dressing.
It is most often seen in European and Continental business dress, where it has been common since the 1990s. In India, it is a relatively distinctive choice — one that reads as well-informed about formal dress codes rather than simply as formal. For clients who want to dress formally while also distinguishing themselves from the standard professional uniform, the cutaway collar is an effective choice.
The tie knot for a cutaway collar — why it matters
A cutaway collar requires a substantial tie knot. The wide opening between the nearly-horizontal points needs to be filled by a knot with presence — a full Windsor, a Kelvin, or a Nicky knot. A four-in-hand or half-Windsor, which look correct in a spread collar, tend to look lost in the wide space of a cutaway collar — a small knot against a large opening looks unintentional.
The tie itself should have some body — a heavier silk or a knitted tie rather than a very lightweight foulard. The knot needs to hold its shape and fill the collar opening cleanly. At The Black Lapel, if a client is commissioning a cutaway collar shirt, we typically discuss the ties they wear most often and ensure the collar opening is set to suit those specific knots rather than using a generic angle.
Open-collar cutaway — a specific consideration
The cutaway collar open-collar is a somewhat more challenging look than a spread collar open-collar. The near-horizontal points, without a tie to fill the space between them, can read as slightly unresolved — the collar is clearly designed to be worn with something in the space it opens up. If open-collar wearing is a priority, a spread collar in a wider angle is generally a more comfortable choice.
That said, a cutaway collar with the top button undone, under a well-fitted jacket, in a clean white or pale blue shirt, is a clean and distinctive smart-casual look — particularly when the rest of the outfit is precise. It works when everything else is pulled together; it reads as careless when anything else is off.
Commission your shirts.
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