In clothing, a collar is the part of a shirt, dress, coat or blouse that fastens around or frames the neck. Among clothing construction professionals, a collar is differentiated from other necklines such as revers and lapels, by being made from a separate piece of fabric, rather than a folded or cut part of the same piece of fabric used for the main body of the garment. A collar may be permanently attached to the main body of the garment (e.g. by stitching) or detachable. Word usage The Oxford English Dictionary traces collar in its modern meaning to c. 1300, when collars served as neck-protecting armour. History Today's shirt collars descend from the rectangular band of linen around the neck of 16th century shirts. Separate ruffs exist alongside attached ruffled collars from the mid-16th century, usually to allow starching and other fine finishing, or to make collar-laundering easier. During the medieval period and sporadically thereafter, people wore ornamental collars as a form of jewelry. Terminology Band – a strip of fabric that fastens around the neck, perpendicular to the body of the garment, to which a collar proper may be attached. Collar stiffeners, bones or stays – strips of baleen, metal, horn, mother of pearl, or plastic, rounded at one end and pointed at the other, inserted into a man's shirt collar to stiffen it and prevent the points from curling up; usually inserted into the underside of the collar through small slits but sometimes permanently sewn in place. Points – the corners of a collar; in a buttoned-down collar, the points are fitted with buttonholes that attach to small buttons on the body of the shirt to hold the collar neatly in place. Spread – the distance between the points of a shirt collar. Stand – the band on a coat or shirt collar that supports the collar itself. Types Collars can be categorized as: Standing or stand-up, fitting up around the neck and not lying on the shoulders. Turnover, standing around the neck and then folded or rolled over. Flat or falling, lying flat on the shoulders. Collars may also be stiffened, traditionally with starch; modern wash-and-wear shirt collars may be stiffened with interfacing or may include metal or plastic collar stays. Shirt collars which are not starched are described as soft collars. The shape of collars is also controlled by the shape of the neckline to which