The Dress Shirt With a Catch: It’s Not Even a Dress Shirt.
When we say “dress shirt dupe,” we’re not talking about the scratchy $10 designer knock-off from the street stand. We’re talking about Collars & Co.—the million dollar idea that actually turned into 14 million dollars (& counting.)
This brand makes luxury, stretch-fabric polos with real dress shirt plackets and stiff collars on top, and we’re putting you on just in time for summer (aka the season of the sweaty back). We first saw these guys on TikTok literally taking people’s shirts off their backs and upgrading them with their own product… so our interest was piqued to say the least.
@collarsandcoclothing Wait for the reveal! Dress Collar Polo Challenge 🏆 #mensstyle #mensfashion #style #mensootd ♬ original sound – Collars & Co.
But turns out the company ambushing people on the street isn’t just some half-assed side hustle. Guys like Nick Faldo, Tiki Barber, Dan Orlovsky, and Matt Leinart are all big proponents of the brand… and these athletes turned TV-personalities clearly know a thing or two about the marriage of style and comfort.
The Dress Collar Polo is honestly pretty ingenious, and if you hate wearing dress shirts (especially in the summertime), then you’re gonna want to listen up.
Collars & Co: The Origin Story
Founder Justin Baer was inspired to start the brand in 2021 because of an all-too-familiar feeling: wearing a hot, uncomfortable, bunched up dress shirt underneath a sweater or blazer, when the only thing that really matters is the collar.
He decided to take it upon himself to combine the comfort of a golf polo with the style of a firm dress collar and see what could happen…
After one of Justin’s daughters convinced him to make a TikTok of the shirt that went viral, Collars & Co. became an instant success. And with enough traction, he was able to get on Shark Tank and score a deal with Mark Cuban and Peter Jones.
Now, Collars & Co. is stacking up features in publications like GQ, Esquire, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal and stocking men’s closets all over the country with Dress Collar Polos.
The “Anti-Dress Shirt” That’ll Be Your Summertime Go-To, Both In and Outside the Office
The Dress Collar Polo is available in dozens of colorways and four different collar styles: Semi-Spread, English Spread, Button Down, and Cutaway. Our personal favorite (and the brand’s most popular style) is the Semi-Spread because it’s a bit more understated—but it’s honestly hard to go wrong with any of the styles.
Just to show you how life-saving and versatile these shirts really are, here are five things we’ve never been able to stand about traditional dress shirts, and five ways Collars & Co. has smoothed out those pain points for good:
- Uncomfortable & Stiff 👉 Extremely Comfy 4-way Stretch. The Dress Collar Polo feels like a Lululemon shirt with a dress collar. It’s always cool and comfortable whether you’re rushing to the office or sitting at home for a Zoom call.
- Sticky Cotton Fabric 👉 Moisture-Wicking, Performance Fabric. Instead of always wearing a jacket to hide the sweat stains, you can rock the Dress Collar Polo in sweat-free comfort everywhere you go. Jacket or no jacket.
- Bacon Collar 👉 Strong & Firm Collar. We’ve all been there. With a little bit of sweat, your typical dress shirt collar starts flopping more than Chris Paul. But the C&C collar always stays crisp.
- Too Formal & Boring 👉 Versatile & Vibrant. You can wear the Dress Collar Polo at the office, the golf course, the dinner table, on a date… you name it. Worn on its own, it strikes the perfect balance between put-together and casual. Mark Cuban rocks it for interviews all the time.
- Impossible to Layer 👉 The Ultimate Layer. The DCP is the end-all, be-all when it comes to layering, thanks to the fact it stays cool and dry. Now summer weddings don’t have to be a sweaty nightmare.
As With Most Things That Originated in the 1800s, Traditional Dress Shirts Come With a Lot of Hurdles…
But the Dress Collar Polo leaps them all. Not only can these shirts save you from the prison of discomfort in the midst of another sweltering summer—their versatile style extends far beyond the office. The “Collars” are fire, but there’s more to the “Co.” than that.
For those of you tethered to wearing a dress shirt to work, forced to go to Florida wedding in the middle of August, or who love the dress shirt style but hate the issues that come with it, Collars & Co. is a shoo-in to become your new favorite closet-addition.