False-collar
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The false collar is a detachable collar fastened by two metal studs, one attached at the front and one at the back to hold the collar to the shirt. Using a false collar allows the shirt to be washed without the special washing a starched collar requires.
Hannah Lord Montague (see the links below) is supposed to have invented this collar in Troy, New York in 1827, when she tried snipping the collar off of one of her husband's shirts to wash it and then sewed it back on. Rev. Ebenezar Brown, a businessman in town, proceeded to commercialize it.
The manufacture of detachable collars and shirts became a big industry in Troy, NY, and the general popularity of this type of removable, washable collar led to use of the terms 'white collar' for clerical workers and 'blue collar' for factory or manual workers, terms still in use at the beginning of the 21st century even though false collars fell out of fashion in the first half of the 20th century.
A clerical collar is a special kind of false collar, which closes in back rather than in front.
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