Web Page 1102
9^th December 2012
Top Picture: Tab shirt of the 1960’s

Bottom Picture: Mens Fashion 1960 style

                                Where’s me Shirt?

“Where’s me shirt? I cannot find me shirt anywhere. Where’s me shirt?” How many of you remember those words from one of Ken Dodd’s characters in his radio show in the 1960’s. I heard a repeat of one of those shows the other day and I got to thinking that we lads in the 60’s had a large range of shirt styles to pick from. The differences were in the collar styles and I think at one time I have tried them all.

Firstly there were the two types of Cossack collar, those with the neat row of buttons along the side of the neck and the smarter ones that had a row of poppers to close the collar up. One of the most popular types of collar was the Tab Collar and these came in all styles and colours sometimes even with matching tie and handkerchief for the shirt pocket. I remember having an orange tab shirt with a matching tie but no hanky. But my pride and joy in the Tab Collar range was my Black Watch Tartan one, which I bought from the Shirt King in Cosham High Street.

Similar to the Tab Collar was the Pinned Collar. This was a shirt, which had a gold coloured rod with a threaded end, which went through the collar under the tie. Nice shirts but I was forever loosing the pin thing.  And the final type of collar restraint That I remember is still around today, in fact I still own some and this is the button down collar, they may have changed over the years but they are still basically the same.

One collar style which seems to reappear on a regular basis over the years is the Grandad shirt, with a top button but no actual collar

We have never actually lost the fashion of the open necked shirt but it has gone through several phases over the years. An open neck shirt with a white tee shirt underneath, rather like James Dean in Rebel without a cause has be constantly popular over the decades but the open necked shirt with accessories soon died a death. These were the shirts with either a matching or toning neck scarf with a golden holding ring at the top to keep it in place. Not very macho I think.

Finally over the years the length of the points of the collars have gone from very short and rounded to the very long and pointed, they always seemed to change with the season. 

The one shirt collar that I missed is not really a shirt at all and that is the Kaftan with its wide open neck hole. I never had one and never wore one so I cannot pass any comment on them, as these were more for the Beatnick and Hippy Brigade.

Ah well back to ironing my conventional shirts again, although I must admit to having a lot of sports shirts and tee shirts in my cupboard these days!!!!

Stay in Touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

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News and Views:

Bill Dees-- one-time co-writer with Roy Orbison-- who gave us such hits as "It's Over" and "Oh, Pretty Woman," died of brain cancer at a nursing facility in Mountain Home, Arkansas Wednesday in October. He was 73. Among the other artists who recorded Bill's songs were Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Glen Campbell.

On this Day 9^th December 1960-1965

On 09/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) the first episode of Coronation Street on shown and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

 On 09/12/1961 the number one single was Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan . The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV).

 On 09/12/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was On Stage with the Black & White Minstrels - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

 On 09/12/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Christine Keeler arrives in prison to serve her sentence of nine months for perjury.

 On 09/12/1964 the number one single was Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Poet Edith Sitwell dies.

 On 09/12/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.