A ‘pop’-ular and preppy choice for guys and girls

Perhaps it all started on an Indian summer day — where the morning breeze is cool and the afternoon sun blazes into your back.

Or maybe it began after a young man had gotten a haircut and didn’t want to get burned as he was sailing.

Or maybe it was all to cover up a hickey.

What ever the case may be, collars have been popped with more starch than a Sam’s Club warehouse full for over six decades.

Collared shirts have been used in various ways to define decades; in the 50s, it was with subtle plaids and pressed khakis and never worn popped. In the 60s, solid colored button ups filled closets. It was only the “Colleeggs” that would dare go near a collared shirt, with the “greasers” staying far away (or as my mom put it, “the Richie’s” and “the Fonz’s”). In the 70s, the army was the inspiration.

It was only in the 80s where popping your collar became a fashion emblem, buying only the “best” brands where the collar would stay-put. Brands such as Izod and Polo defined prep. Easter pastels were the only answer, often paired with a sweater around the neck. Just watch “Wet Hot American Summer” (the best movie ever, and no it’s not a porn) about the last day of summer camp in the 80s. Popped collars and super short-shorts (on both the guys and girls, scarily enough) are everywhere.

But these preps only made the look unforgettable. Collars have long been popped up, but the answer remains: Why?

Some say it began when sailors wanted to avoid a burned neck as they spent long days at sea. But do you really want to admit an old man set a trend that has been carried through half a century? I like to believe the trend became popular after an embarrassed boarding school co-ed received a hickey from his girlfriend. Hey, it’s a better cover up than wearing a turtleneck in the middle of summer.

My best friend at Vanderbilt admitted to popping her collar on more than one occasion after an eventful night. “It’s the real excuse for fraternity guys to pop their collar–to cover up last night’s debauchery,” she said.

Other friends at northern schools call the folks who pop their collars “Polo Popping Princes and Princesses,” which I’m sure must apply to just about everyone at preppy northern colleges – and southern colleges too. While we’re at it, anyone between the ages of 14 and 30. Probably even older.

I have to admit, I love popping my collar. I’m a prep, raised with Izod (or Lacoste as it is popularly known as). I’ve been sporting the green gator since before I could walk. And doesn’t it show that companies like Izod and Lacoste, whose clothing used to parallel The Gap’s prep and price, are now referred to by their latter name and have increased their price point by 300 percent? Not to mention, the size of the gator has significantly gotten smaller over the decades.

It seems that, as hickeys get more popular, so does popping your collar. Heck, even Usher made a hit song about the trend: “Pop Your Collar.” Sneaky title, yeah? He said all you have to do is “pop your collar and don’t worry about what people say about you…I just pop my collar, tip my hat, turn my back on the ones that hated me.” So apparently as soon as you pop your collar, you’re just a little better than those that once held a grudge on you.

There are brands now, like Project E Vintage that have “preppy” written on the back of the collar, or printed animals like whales and ducks all in a row on the back. Why the back of the collar? So when you pop it, everyone can see them of course.

As much as I love a good popped collar, there is a little trend that must stop right now. I’m serious- if this at all applies to you, quickly slip out the door and change in the bathroom before anyone else sees you: why do boys think it is okay to wear more than one collared shirt over another? Is your neck extremely cold? Did you loose your North Face and could only find another collared shirt on your ground? You repeat offenders must stop this double shirt deal. Because it’s bad enough you wear nothing else than a popped-up collared shirt everyday with your jeans and rainbows (despite it being 40 degrees outside) but now you’re wearing two shirts. Because one was clearly just not good enough.

Perhaps the myth behind popped collars will never be solved. We will never know if it reasoned behind a hot summer day on the lake or a rowdy night at the fraternity house. Regardless, this “pop”-ular trend doesn’t seem to be letting down anytime soon.