Question for yanks time...

[burntcopper]

Okay, I keep seeing this phrase popping up in fic, and it's one of those 'this was so written by an american' noters in UK-based fandom.

Button-down shirts.

How, exactly, is this any different from other types of shirt?

In this chilly rain-swept isle we have shirts, t-shirts, and polo shirts. (those things worn by golfers, polo players, etc. Technically come under sportswear.) Also football and rugby shirts, but these are very specific items of sportswear. A blouse is basically a shirt that is worn by a woman, which normally means the collar isn't necessarily made to fit a tie, but often it is. Due to the exceedingly wide variation in styles of clothing worn by women, the word 'blouse' is being superceded by the catch-all 'top'.

A shirt is an item of clothing worn on the top half of the body, made of any material you choose, that opens from neck to navel. Style of collar and length of sleeves varies.

Comments

[delle.livejournal.com]

to Americans, a 'button down shirt' means a dress shirt; one with a collar and buttons down the front. it's usually worn for work or 'events' - I don't know many men that chose to wear a button down shirt for just kicking back and relaxing.

you don't make that kind of distinction in the UK? Interesting!

[rosekay.livejournal.com]

Seconding delle here. A shirt to us is any item of clothing worn on the top half of the body, made of any material you choose, the end. "Blouse" often comes off a little old fashioned, so shirt is basically a catchall for almost anything that covers you from neck to hips - including polos, rugby shirts (which, since we have very, very few actual rugby teams, has evolved away from sportswear a little), T shirts and even, to some extent, various specific women's tops like tanks and halters, though this is more debatable.

"Button down" is a little more casual than dress shirt, since it includes all materials ranging from silk to flannel, but it designates a shirt that opens from neck to navel, and closes with buttons as opposed to a zipper or anything else. It's definitely a dressier thing than your average American guy in the younger half of the spectrum would normally a wear. There's also usually a collar and cuff involved. Applies to men and women. Cufflinks optional. :)

Wow I am long winded. Hope this helps!

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

Actually, the old fart here disagrees with the other Yanks *G*, to a slight degree. Button down usually means a shirt that has a "button down" collar - you see these on what we call "oxford shirts" which are cotton or linen, buttons down the front and tiny little buttons that hold the collar points down. Blouse is still in use for women's dressier tops, though tops is pretty generic for anything these days.

[bexone.livejournal.com]

Technically a "button-down" is actually a men's collar-and-cuffs shirt on which the tips of the collar, literally, button down, although the term is generally applied across the board. It's a bit more casual than a standard dress shirt, since it's not really designed for wearing with a tie. Another term used much more widely than it actually applies is "Oxford," since it technically means a shirt made out of a particular cotton fabric ("Oxford cloth").

High-end menswear shops avoid all that by calling everything meant to be worn with a tie "men's dress shirts" and specifying the details in collar and cuffs separately. (Details include: spread-collar versus button-down versus tab, standard cuffs versus double or french cuffs, etc. There are also some finicky bits you can get into over the presence of a yoke versus pleats on the back of the shirt, and so on.)

[mingmerciless.livejournal.com]

Not a Yank but inclined to agree with emrinalexander and bexone as that was the way it was once explained to me by an American colleague when I was trying to understand what an Oxford shirt was, from a piece of X-Files fanfic (needless to say, I didn't feel the need to burden him overmuch with the reasons I was asking...).

[birdsflying]

A button down is one of those shirts with the tiny buttons for holding the collar points in place. I had to wear one at school in Ireland. Keeps the tie in place nicely!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Hah. It's basically used stupidly, as if it was a rarity to wear such an ordinary shirt. Also interesting how people disagree, because contrary to the info in your comments writers use it for anything with buttons that's not a T-shirt (also, my shirts have those collar-buttons as well).

[mrslant]

I would have understood that to mean a shirt with a button-down collar.

[aqua-eyes.livejournal.com]

You know, that is something I have always wanted to know myself...