White and non-white collars in White Collar

[echan]

The term "white collar" comes from the detachable white collars and cuffs that were once fashionable for office-working men. These collars are always white, regardless of the color or pattern of the rest of the shirt. In modern times, a detachable collar is worn as a symbol of status.

While watching the boilerroom episode, I took note of who was wearing a white collar and who was not:

• At the FBI office while planning the case, nobody is in a white collar. Everyone's collars have some shade or pattern matching their shirts.
  
• At the boilerroom, the man who interviews Neal has a white collar and cuffs, in contrast with his blue striped shirt. Every other boilermen or FBI agent has a more modern, matching collar.
  
• When Neal is taken to meet "the man behind the curtain", neither the man or his business partner have white collars.
  
• When Neal reveals the doublecross to the partner, Neal himself is in a white collar, but not a detachable white collar. Both of the partners have colored collars.
  

What does all this indicate? I've not been able to come up with any theories (yet). I do know that each shirt, each collar is a conscious decision on the part of the costume designer, if not someone above them as well. Also, is there any meaning in the difference between the genuine detachable white collars, and the attached white-collar-colored-shirt collars? Is that one just a cheat for ease, or a sloppy copy? I hope this all means something interesting.

Comments

[justhuman]

Or B

It's the way we class jobs in the US - White Collar and Blue Collar

A "white collar job" is one where in previous generations someone was expected to where a button down shirt - typically white.

Whereas a "blue collar job" is one where someone in previous generations was wearing a uniform representing the company - repairmen, mechanics- typically blue. UPS drives wear brown uniforms - they are still working a blue collar job. So is the kid working retail at the Gap. The store manager is a white collar job.

Peter and El mention this in an early conversation. She says she's glad Peter is in the "white collar" division because that means he's tracking cheating accountants and art thieves instead of mobsters. .... of course she was being sarcastic because Peter was about to meet dangerous criminals.

[damned_colonial]

In modern times, a detachable collar is worn as a symbol of status. Are you sure about that? I'm not aware of detachable collars anytime after, hmmm, WWII at the very latest, outside of historical re-enactment and the like. The website you link to agrees -- by the 1930s only older, old-fashioned people were wearing them. (You can see some awesome detachable white collars in the recent Sherlock Holmes movie, if you're interested -- that period was the high point of detachable collars.)

[whitecollarfan.livejournal.com]

Um, I'm pretty sure white collar in this case refers to white collar crime division of the FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/whitecollarcrime.htm

or am I totally misunderstanding your post?