A wing collar has one job, and it is a bow tie. This one is stiffened and edge stitched, so it stands up around the neck with the tips folded out and away, and the tie sits clean in the open space between them. Put a long tie on it and it looks wrong. Put a bow tie on it and it looks like black tie done properly.
Below the collar the shirt stays quiet. The buttons are covered, so the front reads as one clean line from collar to waist. The chest is pleated, on a second layer of cloth called a plastron, which is what gives a black tie shirt its crisp front. The cuffs are double cuffs, made for cufflinks.
It is cut in the Xacus tailor fit, with darts in the back for a closer line through the waist, in optical white double-twist cotton poplin. Xacus has been making shirts in San Vito di Leguzzano, near Vicenza, since 1956.
We also carry this same Xacus tuxedo shirt with a spread collar, style 554ML. Cloth, pleated front and cuffs are the same, and the collar is the only change. This is the wing collar, style 556ML, the one to choose for a bow tie and the full black tie look.
