High Rounded Necklines and Collar Variations

Jil Sander, AW11, Milan.

There are so many details that come together to make up the collections each season that sometimes it is interesting to just hone in on one detail. By flicking through the collection images looking only at shoulder shapes, hem lines or closures, you start to notice different trends coming through.

This season you may have found your eyes continually picking up on the high necklines of quite a few designers. Technically there are many names for these different types of collars… turtleneck, stove pipe, stand-up, roll… and each name dictates the way that the collar sits, how close the collar is into the neck, how wide the neckline scoops into the garment – and this all translates into how each one needs to be made as a pattern.

Below are some of the different collar examples below from the Jil Sander, Céline and Louis Vuitton collections. Note how the designers use variations on the collars and necklines to great effect so that their collections have a certain feel to them without becoming overly repetitive. If you look through the rest of these shows you will see so many examples of how the necklines and collars are echoed over and over again with subtle changes.

Jil Sander, AW11, Milan.

Céline, AW11, Paris.

Louis Vuitton, AW11, Paris.

When beginning to pattern make or drape a certain silhouette it is sometimes helpful to start by drawing very roughly what you picture the pattern pieces will look like. It will force you to make certain decisions from the beginning about what you want for you result especially in terms of measurements.

If you ask yourself questions such as how far do you want the neckline to skoop, how wide do you want your collar, how high up the back of the neck do you want your collar to sit then you will be much more prepared to make your pattern. You can measure roughly what you are expecting on a dress making dummy or fit model and this will also then help you to get a closer result from the first pattern or drape.

The below images show very basic abstracted versions of what the patterns for these collar shapes and necklines would look like including where basic body patterns would need to be altered to accommodate the new neckline and collar.