What You’re Getting Wrong About the Shirt You Wear Every Day

If you’re a man with a traditional white-collar job and you’re still going into an office every day, your daily uniform probably consists of a pair of dress shoes, a suit and tie, and a classic button-down shirt. Right?

Wrong.

If your dress shirt has some form of spread or point collar — which, if you’re wearing a tie, it almost certainly does — then you’re not wearing a button-down shirt at all. You’re actually wearing a button-up shirt. So what’s the difference?

What’s in a Name?

You probably use the term “button-down” to describe any men’s shirt with a collar and a buttoned front placket. But this is technically incorrect. The appropriate term for this type of shirt is “button-up,” which is a collared shirt with a front placket of buttons that you must button up to wear.

By contrast, a button-down shirt is a specific type of button-up shirt. It is so named because it features small buttons that are used to button down the collar.

Photo by Evan Malachosky for Gear Patrol

These days, the two terms are often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing. Some brands will even wrongly use the term button-down to refer to a button-up shirt, with the most egregious example off the top of my head being Criquet, which has an entire section of “Button Downs” on its website without a single actual button-down shirt on offer.

So what difference does it make whether you wear a button-down or button-up shirt?

All Buttoned Up

Traditionally, button-down shirts are considered more casual than their button-up counterparts. A button-up shirt, which typically uses hidden collar stays in place of buttons to keep its collar in place, looks cleaner than a button-down and should be your shirt of choice whenever you’re wearing a tie.

Button-up shirts also tend to be made from finer weaves of fabric, like twill, that give them a smoother hand feel and crisper appearance. Again, this makes them better for more formal occasions.

Photo by Johnny Brayson for Gear Patrol

Meanwhile, button-down shirts are generally worn without a tie, and their fabrics tend to be more rugged and coarser. Think of the classic Oxford shirt. It’s meant to be comfortable and casual, with its Oxford-cloth weave and button-down collar acting as defining traits.

Does It Really Matter?

At the end of the day … probably not. Men’s clothing has gotten considerably more casual over the past several decades and will likely continue to do so. Few people will bat an eyelash if you call your button-up shirt a button-down or shun you if you wear an Oxford shirt with a tie to work.

But it never hurts to stick to the classic style rules, and knowing the difference between a button-down and a button-up shirt can keep you both sounding and looking smart.

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