Dress Shirt Front Placket Types

Apart from serving as a foundation for buttonholes and allowing you to put your clothes on and off easily, the front placket on your dress shirt also plays a very important role in your style game. The front placket not only imparts a specific character to your office wear but also enhances your appearance by breaking the monotony of such a plain shirt. 

To cut it short, it is your dress shirt front placket type which determines the kind of energy you'll radiate in your surroundings. Therefore, it's extremely important to not just pick up any random dress shirt without paying heed to this element. 

Don't worry if you don't have enough knowledge about placket types and their corresponding impact on your appearance. Today, we are going to cover the very same topic so let's begin! 

What is a dress shirt front placket? 

The word placket has its root in French terminology plaque, meaning to lay on. Placket is actually the flap of fabric that covers the opening or slit in your garment, which was made to accommodate buttons or pockets. 

Speaking precisely of the front placket, then it's that strip of fabric on your shirt, which is folded over and sewn to place buttonholes. This strip runs from the collar to the hem and prevents the fabric from fraying or stretching around buttonholes. 

In dress shirts, you'd find two common variations of front placket, which include the placket and fused placket. The soft placket is made by folding the fabric over itself without any hard interlining. On the other hand, fused plackets are made by blackening the fabric with a hard interlining which in turn imparts a neater and crispier look. 

This interlining prevents the shirt from getting wrinkled or losing shape, and that's why this placket variation is preferred in office or formal shirts. 

Dress shirt front placket types

Based on distinct features and design, front plackets are categorized into several types as follows;

1. Standard placket

This placket style is found in the majority of formal shirts, featuring a folded flap of fabric that runs from collar to hem. This type of front placket looks extremely professional and is ideal to wear with a tie. 

1. Box placket

Commonly found in tuxedo shirts or dress shirts which are worn under suits, box placket features a rectangular fabric flap around which visible stitch lines are made. Another variation of the box placket is the tuxedo front bib placket. 

The tuxedo front bib placket resembles the box placket, but in this, instead of pleats, a ten-inch wide, same-coloured fabric is sewn onto the shirt's front. This bib placket runs from the collar to the fourth button, whereas the first four buttons are swappable with the studs. Such shirts look highly classy and, therefore, are perfect to wear at receptions and other special ceremonies. 

1. French placket

Unlike other placket types, this one is made without any visible topstitching. To make it, the shirt fabric is folded towards the underside and then sewn which leaves the buttons visible but makes the shirt look highly sophisticated and contemporary. 

The Tuxedo plain front placket resembles a French placket but the first four buttons of this placket are swappable with studs. Shirts featuring this minimalist placket design can be worn on both casual and formal occasions. 

1. Cover placket

Cover placket, AKA fly front placket, is another highly formal front placket style. It consists of an additional fabric flap which is sewn over the front placket. This way, the sewn-over flap covers the button while hiding all the visible openings and stitching below it. 

A cover placket or hidden placket is perfect for unlocking an effortlessly elegant yet polished look and that is why it is commonly seen in tuxedo or ceremonial shirts. Also, dress shirts featuring a cover or concealed placket are mostly paired without a tie or with a classic bow tie. 

1. Western placket

Embodying the true American or Western spirit, this placket style is also known as cowboy placket. It features a fabric flap which runs from collar to hem and possesses a snap opening instead of buttons. Since the placket type doesn't look purely formal, it's commonly found in rodeo outfits or casual shirts. 

FAQs

• Should shirts have plackets? 

It mainly depends upon the nature of the environment. For example, if your work environment is smart-casual, modern, or fashion-forward, you may opt for a no-placket dress shirt. However, for a conservative office environment, placket shirts are always a better choice. 

Fused plackets are bonded to the fabric permanently via adhesive, heat, and pressure whereas sewn plackets are made only by sewing in the hard interlining. 

As the name indicates, a full placket is the type of placket that runs throughout the length of a shirt, from collar to hemline.