Sharp Stuff: The Collar Card

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”;}

You wake up in a hotel on the other side of the world. You’ve got a big presentation that might score you the London account, so you put extra care into getting ready this morning. So much care, in fact, that you realize you might be late if you don’t rush out the door – forgetting yet again to put your collar stays in.

But that’s nothing to worry about, because hidden in your wallet is the Collar Card. It’s brilliant: a credit-card sized holder of four pop-out collar stays that stay with you until you need them. Collar stays (and if you don’t know, you probably don’t need them) are small strips of metal or plastic that fit into slits on the underside of the collar, ensuring that it lies close to the collarbone and stays flat and crisp throughout the day. While some shirts come with them, a finely made tailored shirt will require that you put them in yourself and remove them for ironing – which you should, as a man, also be able to do yourself. And now you and your career don’t have to worry if you forget to put them back in. Finally a situation in which reaching for your wallet really is the answer.

Collar Cards, $1.99 each or $4.99 for 3 pack. Visit www.collarcard.com for more information.