Why Is It Called a Peter Pan Collar?

I had an epiphany the last time I was wearing this shirt:

I had to explain the shirt to a heterosexual male who I know only peripherally but who has also revealed himself to maintain an idea of fashion that seems as accurate an opinion on the craft as say, mine on neoclassical art. This is to say: laughably minimal and possibly too literal. (When asked what he thought of high fashion, he countered this question with another: you mean the big shoes girls wear?)

“Cool flopping collar,” he remarked, to which I said, “Thanks, it’s called a Peter Pan collar.”

“Why?” he inquired, endearingly curious.

And though I had never thought, let alone articulated it before, here’s where the epiphany rolled off my tongue.

“Well, they’re shirts designed for women who never want to grow up.”

We’ve all heard of Peter Pan syndrome, yes? That thing where you refuse to acknowledge that you’re growing up? It can be applied to manifold arenas that include dating and friendship and one’s obsession with him/herself. But never had I applied it to fashion, which is when I got to thinking about the true genesis of the term (given the fact that the animated Peter Pan, with whom Disney has acclimated all our primordial senses, wears one that is violently pointy as opposed to softly curved, like a wide U). As history would have it, 1905’s Peter Pan, Maude Adams, (who succeeded 1904’s and the original book’s) is who wore and subsequently popularized the flat collar. It was the English and American folk who co-opted the designed-for-Adams silhouette and turned it into an unwitting expression of reluctance-to-age.

The way I see it now, though, there is also a divine feminist statement at play here. If you want to talk about She Who Leans In, Maude Adams, who at her volition assumed her mother’s — not father’s — last name, is one of the earliest recorded girl bosses, having gone down in history as one of the highest paid actors of her day.

So the next time you consider putting one on, ask yourself: Why am I “considering” anything? Then lean da fuq into that shirt like you are 30 going on 12 and you’ve already secured eight figures in VC-funding to help actualize your billion dollar idea.

[image error]
Turn on your JavaScript to view content

Cheers!

The post Why Is It Called a Peter Pan Collar? appeared first on Man Repeller.