white wing collar tuxedo shirt with pleats

[KnittedReenactor]

Officers and NCOs No.10A uniforms.
I am not seeing front pleating in the pictures, but that may be my screen resolution.

[Highland Logan]

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[Jock Scot]

.............. Obviously it would appear that more rural areas with fewer retail outlets have a more restricted choice and, as a result, the ubiquitous turn down style is all that is available so that is what they all wear. Elsewhere, where a greater choice is available, then personal choice can come into play. But at the end of the day it is simply a shirt with a collar.

I am not at all sure that we are restricted for choice of attire up here in the wild Highlands, Steve. In the past local tailors were fairly common and now they are gone, helpfully the road system has improved greatly and nearly everyone now has a car or has good public transport available to larger towns and Cities. Also the internet shopping phenomenon is of huge help these days. Next day delivery is not unusual nowadays and within 48 hours is almost a certainty. So I really don't think the reasoning of differing attire opinions can be laid at the door of the Highlands being isolated from freedom of choice in that sense.

I do agree though, that in the end, what we wear and how we wear any particular item of clothing is a personal choice, not forgetting however, that there are certain dress conventions for us to consider.

[Jock Scot]

Not just in the highlands, Jock, even here finding a wing collar shirt is not easy these days. M&S had them but at £42 a go were not an attractive proposition. Thankfully I have some I can still squeeze into but you can see why they are going out of fashion at prices like that.

Personally, I do not consider £42 for a shirt expensive, but I can quite see that some might. Fortunately the wing collar going out of fashion will not trouble most of us up here as they are not a local choice in my experience.

[Father Bill]

For M&S £42 is expensive and the last wing collar shirt I bought was something like £2 in Matalan! Obviously these kind of bargains might not be available in country areas so it is understandable that where shopping is limited that prices are “hiked” accordingly.

Steve, in the era of online ordering, the impact of urban/rural areas is greatly reduced and mitigated.

[Jock Scot]

For M&S £42 is expensive and the last wing collar shirt I bought was something like £2 in Matalan! Obviously these kind of bargains might not be available in country areas so it is understandable that where shopping is limited that prices are “hiked” accordingly.

We have a M&S in Fort William and I am led to believe we have a Matalan in Inverness. So please don’t make the mistake of thinking that the Highlands is some isolated area somewhere in the middle of nowhere! Even 50 and more years ago we would order goods by telephone from London/Birmingham/Bristol/Edinburgh/Glasgow and the good old Royal Mail would usually deliver within the week. The only difference between now and then is now we have to pay for goods at the time of ordering and it arrives next day in a white van!

We, you and me, live different lives and have different priorities and expectations in life and there is nothing wrong in that, it’s just the way it is and as an example, I buy my formal shirts from London and expect to pay well over £100 for each one and expect them to last at least a decade, if not two,of fairly regular use.....assuming my size does not alter! Out of interest, how long does your Matalan £2 formal shirt last?

[ThistleDown]

We have a Matalan at Inshes Park AND a M&S at Eastgate! It's wonderful what the commercial world can bring to you when it sees a fine market?

Inverness is a City, not a village. We are 'up here', but not in the hinterlands.

We keep to the old styles and fashions much longer that those to the South, but I venture to say that's about our values of tradition and not about any desire to remain in the past -- a place we hold dear but from which are pleased to have moved.

[Jock Scot]

Post deleted. No longer relevant.

[Good Egg]

I have to say that I am intrigued by the endless discussions that take place here over the minutiae of certain elements of clothing. One item that I have never previously found contentious is the collar of a shirt! There are two options available, yes only two, one is a turn down collar such as one would wear every day with a business suit, and the other is a wing collar which, while it would have been worn as daywear at one time, is now generally regarded as a more formal item. The only possible choice that any dress code could make is either a shirt with a collar (turn down or wing) or an open neck shirt. There is no distinction between the styles other than a personal preference. Obviously it would appear that more rural areas with fewer retail outlets have a more restricted choice and, as a result, the ubiquitous turn down style is all that is available so that is what they all wear. Elsewhere, where a greater choice is available, then personal choice can come into play. But at the end of the day it is simply a shirt with a collar.

There is also the option of ‘collarless’ shirts to be worn with a jabot.

My preference would be for a marcella fronted shirt with ‘soft’ Marcella collar and cuffs but this is one of those things where it’s very much each to their own.

[JCameron]

Here's my (well researched) ten cents.
Wing collars are traditional, in fact, they are the most traditional option. The issue is that traditional wing collar shirts are not the limp attached collar pleated shirts of today, a traditional evening shirt would have a stiff plain bib and detachable collar, the collar would be heavily starched, and at least 2.25in tall. Here is and example of a retailer who still sells the traditional shirts, they also sell the collars here.
If you don't want to wear a stiff 2.25in high collar, then the only other option is the attached turndown collar with a pleated or soft bib shirt.