How Tight should your Collar be when it is Buttoned up?
Your dress collar shouldn’t be tight at all. Period! In fact, having a tight collar can cause a series of health complications. In general, you should be able to move around comfortably without feeling like your going suffocate.
They say that you should be able to put two fingers as a rule of thumb but to me, the collar should remain as loose as you want it to be.
Here is an example of a tight collar:
Do you see the side of the neck leaning out of the edges of the collar? This is bad. This is also tells me this guy will suffer from tons of migraines!
How Do I Know if my Dress Collar Fits?
To help you understand what I mean, wear your dress shirt with the collar button buttoned sitting down with your neck bent at all directions. If it feels too tight at the neck at any angle, get a looser collar.
Finally, when you add a necktie to the equation, if you tie your necktie too tight, you defeat the whole purpose of getting a loose collar.
Health complications due to a tight collar/ necktie!
Your clothing especially around the neck should be comfortable all day long. It should be comfortable enough to wear 24/7.I really stress the “comfortable” part because having a tight collar can cause a number of problems from migraines to strokes!
Remember that artery in your neck supplies blood to your brain and having a tight collar around it can cause a heap load of problems. Headaches is the most common. Blurry vision is another. The most severe are strokes and losing consciousness. It has also been reported that constriction around the neck causes a higher risk in developing glaucoma, an eye disease that permanently causes blindness.
Play it safe and get a loose collar. Keep in mind that your neck can expand under stress. Stress causes a spike in blood pressure and a tight collar causes even more of a problem. Remember that your brain needs blood, so just keep it loose and comfortable.
Don’t believe me? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-190368/Tight-ties-lead-blindness.html
The Problem with Loose Collars?
The only problem with getting a dress shirt with big collars is that the bigger the collar, the larger the shirt. This is easily fixed by getting a custom made dress shirt. Sounds a bit pricey but I rather spend some extra dough than suffer headaches and other health problems.