Useless fact
What are the plastic strips inside a shirt collar called?
The small, stiff strips inserted into the underside of a dress shirt collar to keep it flat and crisp are called collar stays.
Modern collar stays are thin, rigid strips of material, usually made of plastic, stainless steel, brass, or mother-of-pearl, that are inserted into small pockets on the underside of a dress shirt's collar points. Their purpose is to keep the collar points flat, rigid, and close to the collarbone, preventing them from curling up or folding. The invention of these stabilizers became necessary in the early twentieth century as men's fashion shifted from stiff, starched, detachable collars to softer, attached collars that lacked natural structure. While they are most commonly referred to as collar stays or collar stiffeners in American English, they are frequently called collar bones in British English. Historically, they were crafted from natural materials such as wood, metal, or actual whalebone, which is why they are known as ballenas in Spanish. Today, they remain a subtle but essential detail in formal and business attire, with high-end shirts often featuring removable metal stays, while cheaper daily wear shirts typically have plastic stays permanently sewn inside the collar.
Why this is true — Collar stays are widely documented in dictionaries and fashion guides as the standard term for these shirt collar inserts.
Sources
- ballena Real Academia Española
- collar stay Cambridge University Press