Create Fancy Dress Or Mandarin Collar Local Dress, and How To Repair A Worn Collar On A Shirt Or Blouse

On one occasion I flew from the UK to Singapore for a fancy dress party. First, the agony of wondering if the fancy dress would arrive in the UK before we departed. Then the clothes took up all our suitcase space and luggage weight allowance.

In the UK a hotel weekend away announced a fancy dress party. We had no fancy dress with us. The Americans had come with fancy dress. Unfortunately, the airline lost their luggage, which was delivered next day, after the opening night dinner.

It costs a fortune to hire fancy dress or a smart suit for a party overseas, and to transport it you need space and a weight allowance. What if you could just re-purpose an old garment?


Collar, containing a stay. Photo author Minaert, in wikipedia under collar.

You keep your old shirts for hiking. Then you get invited to a grand dinner and your shirts or blouses are fraying.

In the UK I found companies which would replace collars with new white ones. This involved me in posting off the garment, and spending more than it would cost to buy an up to date new item.

Tailors can also reverse the collar, or make a new lining by cutting off part of the shirt tail.

A DIY version is to re-use part of a table cloth or table napkin.

 For years I have been wanting to find a way to rescue shirt which have worn creases around the collar (and/or cuffs). I have a wonderful shirt by a top brand, fabulous fabric, but my family wanted to throw it out.

Several solutions spring to mind.

Ribbon / Bias binding
First, sew a ribbon over the worn part. If you can't find ribbon the right colour or width, use bias binding.


Mandarin Collar from Wikipedia. Photo author Mandoclothing.

Mandarin Collar
Second, cut off the worn seam above the seam to create a Mandarin collar.
Look at the collar above and you can see that by cutting off the collar you are left with a strip with semicircular ends forming a Mandarin collar.

You can use it to look at one with with local people, less obtrusive and cumbersome collar, smart casual, or fancy dress for a party. (A similar version is the Nehru collar.)

Third, fold the collar inside out and sew it down.
If it is too stiff, you may need to cut a v shape or two, or sew down a V shape or two, or make a tiny cut. Slide out the collar corner stays, also called collar stiffeners.

If you were going to throw away the shirt of blouse anyway, you have nothing to lose. Practise on a short or blouse which is less valuable.

Fourthly, cut off the sleeves and collar and make a sleeveless vest.

Fifthly, cut out the front and back panels as cloth for patching or making pockets on other garments or quilting.
Sixthly, in a collar, after cutting off the worn part, you can insert a piece of fabric at the front (cut from the part which you cut off) to make a standing collar, as worn by the US military.

Photo of US soldier with standing collar. Photo in public domain from wikipedia on Mandarin collar.

Add a contrast white patch at the front instead, and you have a fancy dress clergyman's dog collar.

Clerical collar. Public domain. Photo by Ugaburr. From Wikipedia, clergy dog collar. Church of Sweden tab collar.

I associate mandarin collars with China and Singapore. However, as you see, your old shirt of blouse could be adapted to a costume for Sweden, Italy, or India.

Useful Websites
https://www.loveyourclothes.org.uk/videos/fast-fix-how-mend-worn-shirt-collars-and-cuffs
https://putthison.com/q-and-answer-can-i-repair-frayed-shirt-collars/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collar_stay

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Author of How To Get Out of the Mess You're In.

How To Spot Quality and Cut In A Blazer

Shoulder sleeve join on Pink cape blazer by label PRETTY LITTLE THING.



Burgundy blazer (looks more like fuscia on my screen).

Burgundy hat and burgundy cape blazer showing sleeve cut and sewing. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The label has been cutcut. Good quality garment with lining. It has two buttons with buttonholes, and two buttons without buttonholes creating an invisible square pattern.
I bought the hat separately.

This picture taken from a video shows the burgundy colour better, as well as the length of the coat and how the shoulders hang reasonably well despite the T shape seam.

I have bought several cape blazers.

I am buying and evaluating on:
Price
Cut
Colour
Lining

1 Cream short jacket from Mango.  Bought in Madeira in the sale. Reduced from about  55 Euros to 45 euros, about £37 but still expensive.
Looks elegant.
I hunted for the black one not stocked in Madeira. London had it in the sale, but deaerer than in Madeira, about another fiver or seven pounds. I decided to look on line.

2 Short black jacket. Cheap. About £20.
T-shape shoulder seam. I was shocked when I compared it to my other jackets and even cheap shirts.

3 Long navy jacket. Long. Creased but that doesn't notice so much on dark colour.

4 Short pink jacket in the sale. Same brand as the short black one, but in the sale only £10. At that price I was willing to overlook the strange shoulder seam.

5 Long burgundy jacket. Second hand.

Also black short jacket with red embroidery, flying in from China.

What was the difference between the dearer Mango item and the cheap one from China? The Mango item was lined. (So now I sometimes hunt for 'lined cape blazer'.) I was shocked to see that whilst my Mango jacket had a curved line where the sleeve fitted into the shoulder, the cheaper item had a T shape.

I didn't know whether it was oddly cut, or quickly-sewn. I thought, a five-year-old could cut that and sew that, just a straight line. I could do that. But I wouldn't dream of selling it. Don't they have a quality checker?

The fact that my shoulder are not exactly the same, one higher than the other (because of a broken collarbone in a major car accident) means that little points sticking out of both shoulder, at different levels, looks really odd.

I looked in the mirror to see what it looked like on. I had little points sticking up. I tried pushing in the points. I considered sewing them down from the inside.

Even so, I saw another item in the same style from the China manufacturer. This time it was half price, and I was prepared to have the funny shoulders in exchange for getting the colour I wanted and the cheap price.

I wear my cheaper jackets in the daytime, the dearer ones on special occasions. But even in the daytime, when I think I am not at my best, I get compliments. An African lady at the pedestrian crossing said to me, regarding the burgundy jacket over a refersible plum and pink dress: "Lovely outfit. So colourful!"

If you look at the shoulders of different garments - especially cape blazers, you may find a difference.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.