Massimo Alba Noto2 Classic Shirt

The band collar is the oldest collar in shirt-making and the last one to go out of use, because it was the original: shirts were made with a standing band and a separate collar was buttoned onto it, so what we now call a band collar is simply the shirt without its detachable part. What survives is the most adaptable neckline there is. Buttoned to the top it is closed and formal without being ceremonial. Left open it falls away cleanly with nothing to prop up or roll. Under a jacket it does not fight the lapel, which is a problem every pointed collar has.

In a linen and cotton cloth, in Bianco, this becomes the plain summer shirt to own if you own one. The linen keeps it dry and cool, and the cotton gives the band enough stability to stand rather than collapse, which is the detail that separates a good band collar from a limp one. It fastens the whole way down the front, which is worth saying plainly: the collarless Kos is cut in the same cloth and is a pop-over, so one of the two is a shirt you button and the other is a shirt you pull on.

The band collar is the single most useful shirt neckline for the way people actually dress now, which is rarely with a tie and often under a jacket. This is the one we would hand someone first.

Fifty-five percent linen, forty-five percent cotton, made in Italy. Band collar, full button front, regular fit. Colour: Bianco.

Regular fit, skimming rather than close. Linen and cotton in this proportion softens noticeably over the first season and creases from the outset. The band collar sits close to the neck, so it will show at the collar of a jacket as a clean line rather than as points.

Under the Baglietto or the Florida in navy. With the Ionio2 in either cloth. Untucked with the Kevin shorts in high summer.

Wash cool and hang to dry. Press the band and the cuffs if you press anything, since those are the parts that show. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

The Kos Collarless Pop-Over is the linen and cotton shirt with no collar and no opening down the front. The Genova Shirt in Bianco is the cotton voile, the Ionio2 Trouser is the cotton trouser, and the Baglietto Jacket is the wool jacket over it. There is more on the house on the Massimo Alba designer page. Everything we carry from Massimo Alba is listed together.