Collar stays

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Collar stays (sometimes known as collar bones or tabs, and in the UK, collar stiffeners) are shirt accessories.

Collar stays are sleek, rigid strips of metal (such as brass or sterling silver), horn, mother of pearl, or plastic, rounded at one end and pointed at the other, inserted into a man's shirt collar to stabilize the collar’s points. The stays ensure that the collar lays flat against the collarbone, looking crisp remaining in the correct place.

On lower-priced shirts, the stays are sewn in place, whereas on high priced shirts collar stays are removable and a fashion accessory. Collar stays can be found in haberdashers and other men’s clothing stores.

A paper clip may be used as an improvised collar stay if ready-made ones are not available. This is not optimal, as the ends of the paper clip can tear the fabric, and the metal can rust if the collar gets wet.

Collar stays should be removed from shirts before dry cleaning or pressing as the cleaner may forget to do this themselves. Shirts that are press ironed with the collar stays are vulnerable to damage.