If the top collar button is too tight, the next one underneath too wide for the tie, you can use a little trick to make the top button a little wider so that you don't feel like your breath is being strangled.
Put a small elastic band through the buttonhole of the top collar button, double it and pull the loops over the button. Now you can put the tie on over it so that the elastic is no longer visible and relax despite the shirt and tie.
How tight should a shirt collar fit to prevent the collar button from being too tight?
How the shirt collar should fit
The shirt collar should fit comfortably without being too loose. As tight or snug as possible without being uncomfortable. 1-2 fingers should fit between collar and neck when buttoned. No large gap should be visible between collar and neck. Heavier men should make sure that their necks do not protrude beyond the collar.
How a shirt collar should fit
Shrinkage (shrinkage)
We try to take shrinkage into account when making the collar size, so a 16-inch collar should measure exactly 16.5 inches right out of the box. The first wash usually involves some shrinkage, but after that the shirt should have reached its size.
If you never wear a tie
If you never or rarely wear a tie, a slightly tighter buttoned collar is perfectly fine and makes the open collar look nicer in some cases.
If there is a gap behind your neck
Is the collar button too tight but the shirt doesn't fit properly? If the collar feels uncomfortably tight once it is buttoned but you can still see a large gap between the neck and the back of the collar band, the shirt may need to be adjusted and resewn.
