Button up and button down are terms that are related to shirts. Button up shirts are shirts that have button up at the front. Button down shirts also have button up at the front, but they also have two buttons on the collars, which fasten the collars to the shirt. This is the key difference between button up and button down shirts.
What is a Button Up Shirt?
A button up shirt is a shirt with buttons at the front. These shirts have buttons all the way up in the front, including a topic button. Button up shirts are the most common shirts in many men’s wardrobes.
The collars in this shirts do not have buttons and are not attached to the shirt front. Thus, ties can be worn with button up shirts. Many formal shirts, dress shirts and casual shirts are button up shirts. Button up shirts can be worn for both formal and casual occasions. You can wear button up shirts with a tie and a suit or with a casual pair of jeans.
What is a Button Down Shirt?
Button down shirts also have buttons all the way up in the front of the shirt, the difference between button up and button down really lies in the collar style of the shirt. A button down shirt is basically a shirt with two buttons in the collar. These two buttons on the collar fasten the collar to the front of the shirt.
Button down shirt style is said to be influenced by polo players, who fastened their collars to the shirt with the help of buttons in order to stop the collar from flapping the wind and impairing their vision. Button down shirts was also first known as polo collar shirts and was originally very popular with sportsmen since the collars remained in place when they were in action. But today, these shirts are popular all over the world.
Button down shirts are mostly worn for casual and smart casual wear. Button down shirts are not usually worn with ties.
What is the difference between Button Up and Button Down?
Button Up vs Button Down |
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| Button Up shirts have buttons all the way up at the front. | Button Down shirt have buttons all the way up at the front and two buttons on the collar. |
| Collar | |
| Button Up shirt collars cannot be fastened to the shirt with the help of buttons. | Button Down shirt collars can be fastened to the shirt with the help of buttons. |
| Occasions | |
| Button Up shirts can be worn for both casual and formal occasions. | Button Down shirts are usually worn as casual wear. |
| Ties | |
| Button Up shirts can be worn with a tie. | Button Down shirts are not usually worn with a tie. |
| Ties | |
| Button Up shirts are more commonly worn than button down shirts. | Button Down shirts are not as common as button up shirts. |
Image Courtesy:
“Button Down Collar” (Shirt by Neiman Marcus) by Robert Sheie (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
“Arnaud Rousseau Dress Shirt with a Modern Spread Collar” By Ashjini – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia