[Flanderian]

Noting the popularity of this icon style among TNSIL fanciers, I find this a bit of interesting history as presented at the excellent men's blog, Tweedland.

Link to the article entire, below -

VICTOR BESNARD / LA HAYE

The bespoke tailoring house A. Besnard Tailleur was established in 1876 by Albert Besnard. In 2018, his great-great-grandson Victor Besnar...

tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com

 

[Flanderian]

While the BD is correctly associated with American fashion, as noted in the history, it's not unique to this country. An excellent contemporary example of this being the superb French bespoke chemisier Daniel Levy. Seemingly able to cut a nearly endless variety of aesthetically successful collars, he makes different variants of the BD upon request, and to my eye, produces some of the nicest. This collar appears to contain a lot of the nuances that made the early to mid-60's Gant collar renowned, though scaled up from minimalist proportions of the era.

 

[Charles Dana]

Noting the popularity of this icon style among TNSIL fanciers, I find this a bit of interesting history as presented at the excellent men's blog, Tweedland.

Link to the article entire, below -

VICTOR BESNARD / LA HAYE

The bespoke tailoring house A. Besnard Tailleur was established in 1876 by Albert Besnard. In 2018, his great-great-grandson Victor Besnar...

tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com

Thank you for the link. There’s a lot of good information in the article. And two glaring mistakes.

First, Mr. Besnard says that John F. Kennedy wore OCBDs in the Oval Office when he was president of the United States. No he didn’t. By the late 1950s, Senator John F. Kennedy had sworn off OCBDs and even gave his brother Robert a hard time for still wearing them.

Second, the author states that Ivy League college students adopted the OCBD in the 1950s. No, they adopted it on a widespread basis in the 1930s. And while I haven’t investigated what other prep school students did, it was in the 1920s that some students at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts adopted the OCBD (by then a tennis shirt) for use with suits. That was a radical development for the world of prep school attire—wearing a soft, button-down collar instead of a high, stiff, detachable collar with a suit. Many kids at Phillips still wore traditional collars for their school portraits in the 1920s, but it was in that decade that the OCBD got feathered into the pictures.

You can see for yourself. If you ever get a chance, look at old issues of “Pot Pourri” (the name of the Phillips Academy yearbook). They’re all online. Examine the students’ portraits for, say, 1915 to 1920. Note the stiff shirt collars. Then look closely at their photos throughout the 1920s. Right before your eyes, you’ll see the OCBD starting to take hold as a shirt to be worn with a suit.

 

[Flanderian]

Thank you for the link. There’s a lot of good information in the article. And two glaring mistakes.

First, Mr. Besnard says that John F. Kennedy wore OCBDs in the Oval Office when he was president of the United States. No he didn’t. By the late 1950s, Senator John F. Kennedy had sworn off OCBDs and even gave his brother Robert a hard time for still wearing them.

Second, the author states that Ivy League college students adopted the OCBD in the 1950s. No, they adopted it on a widespread basis in the 1930s. And while I haven’t investigated what other prep school students did, it was in the 1920s that some students at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts adopted the OCBD (by then a tennis shirt) for use with suits. That was a radical development for the world of prep school attire—wearing a soft, button-down collar instead of a high, stiff, detachable collar with a suit. Many kids at Phillips still wore traditional collars for their school portraits in the 1920s, but it was in that decade that the OCBD got feathered into the pictures.

You can see for yourself. If you ever get a chance, look at old issues of “Pot Pourri” (the name of the Phillips Academy yearbook). They’re all online. Examine the students’ portraits for, say, 1915 to 1920. Note the stiff shirt collars. Then look closely at their photos throughout the 1920s. Right before your eyes, you’ll see the OCBD starting to take hold as a shirt to be worn with a suit.

Thank you for these corrections!

While lacking your depth of knowledge on the topic, I despise being a spreader of misinformation.

You've added to the depth of my understanding.

 

[.36864]

Ivy Style recently had a piece on Besnard as well. The company sounds intriguing, perhaps it may be worth ordering a couple of shirts.

 

[Vecchio Vespa]

Ivy Style recently had a piece on Besnard as well. The company sounds intriguing, perhaps it may be worth ordering a couple of shirts.

I look forward to your report! My minimalist approach to my wardrobe precludes such experimentation. Sometimes I think wistfully of the overstuffed closet of the 1970s!

 

[14395]

While the BD is correctly associated with American fashion, as noted in the history, it's not unique to this country. An excellent contemporary example of this being the superb French bespoke chemisier Daniel Levy. Seemingly able to cut a nearly endless variety of aesthetically successful collars, he makes different variants of the BD upon request, and to my eye, produces some of the nicest. This collar appears to contain a lot of the nuances that made the early to mid-60's Gant collar renowned, though scaled up from minimalist proportions of the era.


View attachment 84243

A button down collar without the shirt having a front placket is quite rare, at least in the US.

 

[Flanderian]

A button down collar without the shirt having a front placket is quite rare, at least in the US.

It is.

M. Levy is a Parisian chemisier, and as I suspect you know in the U.S. a placket-less front is commonly known as a French front, and in France evidently the norm. But M. Levy can do whichever a client prefers, an example being this sport shirt below with a placket, but he will also do them upon request on dress shirts.

 

[Tennis Collar]

European shirtmakers tend to make the collar spreader and blunter

Compare it to this

 

[Flanderian]

D. Levy BD dress shirt with placket.

 

[Tom Buchanan]

I really like the collar on the Daniel Levy blue and white stripe shirt above. I like the collar length and how the opening seems to be placed high on the shirt front (some of the old Brooks had a low stance, which doesn't work well for guys with long thin necks).

Has anyone ordered from Daniel Levy? Is this a "you have to be in Paris" kind of operation? Their website was not real helpful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Flanderian]

I really like the collar on the Daniel Levy blue and white stripe shirt above. I like the collar length and how the opening seems to be placed high on the shirt front (some of the old Brooks had a low stance, which doesn't work well for guys with long thin necks).

Has anyone ordered from Daniel Levy? Is this a "you have to be in Paris" kind of operation? Their website was not real helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Levi seems to be infinitely flexible in making collars of any height and any style with aesthetically successful realizations of his client's requests. A lot of his BD's remind me of some of the original BD collars. Love the collar on pink pinpoint above. 😍