We tell you everything about collar stays

Perhaps you've never heard of collar stays, these little rods slipped into the collar of the shirt. No problem, here we will explain everything to you.

The origin of the word comes from corset makers who, between the ^16th and the ^19th century, used real whalebone as rods slipped into their corsets. From the ^19th century, we began to use steel rods but the term whale remained.
Note that the term whale also refers to the articulated stems of an umbrella.

Collar stays , although hidden, are essential in a shirt because they keep the collar tips straight, preventing them from bunching up, which is visually unsightly.

There are two types of collar stays: built-in stays and removable stays. Let's take a look at these two variants.

This is basically the type of whale for those who don't want to bother. The stays are incorporated into the collar of the shirt and you don't have to worry about them, you can pretend they aren't there. You do not have to remove them when you put your shirt in the washing machine and they perform their function of holding the points of the shirt collar.
The disadvantage is that if the whalebone breaks or even deforms over successive washes, you have it in the bone. Besides, there are better things, but we'll get to that.

Removable ribs

This is the type of whale preferred by connoisseurs. You can remove and replace the stays of your shirt collars as you wish, by sliding them into the small slots provided for this purpose. Of course, you have to take them off before each wash and put them back on once the shirt is washed and ironed. However, this does not require a lot of effort and will ensure good durability for your collar stays. And if one of the ribs should break or become deformed, you can change it, without your shirt having to suffer, thereby extending its lifespan.
At Hast, our formal shirts are equipped with removable plastic stays , as is customary for collar stays. The plastic stays will ensure your collar has excellent support for its tips.

However, there is even better: removable mother-of-pearl , gold, etc. ribs. These stays will give your collar tips superb rigidity and you will also have a beautiful accessory in the collar of your shirts, a secret that only you will know and which you will see will bring you a certain satisfaction. With a nice white or blue shirt , it will look great.

Before concluding, be aware that not all shirt collars require collar stays, this is the case for button-down collars, mandarin collars or even officer collars. So don't be surprised if you don't find the famous little removable rods for these models.

So, for those of you (and I'm sure there are some) who have ever tossed the little white plastic rods you find in the collar of Hast shirts in the trash thinking that it would acted, like pins, elements used to wrap the shirt, next time, think twice, they are there for you :)