Winchester Shirts
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Sometimes, we receive orders for Winchester shirts.
The characteristic is that the body and the collar / the cuffs are made of different materials. It is a classic and cool design that has been around since the 1800s.
It is also called "contrast collar shirt" because of its unique design, or "banker collar shirt" because it was often worn by American bankers at the time, and "Winchester shirt” because of its inventor. In Japan, it is commonly called a "cleric shirt".
The history and origin of the Winchester shirt go back to the 1800s. Clothes at that time were much more expensive than today, and it was common to repair and continue wearing them if they became worn or dirty. For this reason, the collar and cuffs, which are the parts of the shirt most likely to be damaged, were made to be detachable.
Even at that time, shirts were not only made of white fabrics, but also had patterned and colored fabrics, so it often happened that the fabric was not in stock when tailors wanted to exchange the parts. So, instead of using body match fabric, white fabric started to be used for replacing parts.
The number of shirts with detachable collars and cuffs decreased dramatically in the 1930s because the sewing and washing technology improved significantly. However, there was still a demand for designs made of different fabrics combined, and Oliver F. Winchester's company began selling the modern shirts which have a white collar and cuffs sewn onto a colored body. This is why this type of shirt is known as “Winchester shirts”.