A dickey is a type of false shirt

Shirt

A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...

-front - originally known as a detachable bosom - designed to be worn with a tuxedo

Black tie

Black tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions. For a man, the main component is a usually black jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo...

 or men's white tie

White tie

White tie is the most formal evening dress code in Western fashion. It is worn to ceremonial occasions such as state dinners in some countries, as well as to very formal balls and evening weddings...

, usually attached to the collar and then tucked into the waistcoat or cummerbund

Cummerbund

A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets . The cummerbund was first adopted by British military officers in colonial India as an alternative to a waistcoat, and later spread to civilian use...

. The rigid plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

 dickey came into fashion in the latter years of the 19th century, and was one of the first successful commercial applications of celluloid

Celluloid

Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents. Generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1862 and as Xylonite in 1869, before being registered as Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is...

.

Celluloid (Hard Plastic)

Celluloid

Celluloid

Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents. Generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1862 and as Xylonite in 1869, before being registered as Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is...

 dickeys were popular for their waterproof and stain-resistant properties. Unlike traditional cloth shirt-fronts, they remained sleek, bright white, and did not wilt or wrinkle. Celluloid dickeys simulated the look of a formal shirt bib for day and evening wear. They were designed in a variety of patents, such as: rounded, flat-end, no restraints, a restraint tab at the end of the bib or side straps that tied at the wearer's back. For this reason, they were popular with entertainers

Show business

Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....

, music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

ians, and other performers. Nevertheless, they were frequently maligned and spoofed for their stiffness, unmanageability, and tendency to pop out of place. In one notable Looney Tunes segment

Long-Haired Hare

Long-Haired Hare is a 1948 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1949, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. In addition to including the homophones "hair" and "hare", the title is also a pun on "longhairs", a characterization of classical music lovers...

, Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

 conducts an arrogant opera singer and makes him hold a note so long that his dickey snaps out of his waistcoat and rolls up to his throat. "The flapping dickey", a famous Vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 cliché

Cliché

A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

, involves a dickey which has been intentionally rigged to flap in a comical fashion.

Cardboard

Cardboard dickies were worn in theater and service professions to save money from using linen formal shirts for uniforms. Examples of professions that used cardboard dickies include waiters, hotel managers, doormen, bellboys, limo drivers, and servants. Cardboard dickeys are still manufactured in the United States by Amazon Dry Goods.

Cloth

Cloth dickeys simulate many different styles, some often seen examples include dress shirt front and collar, formal frilled shirt front (popular in the mid seventies with powder blue tuxedos) and most commonly in modern times as false turtleneck sweater fronts. Cloth dickeys can simply be the cut off collar and front of a dress shirt. This type of self made dickey was worn in an episode of the TV series Night Court

Night Court

Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...

 by the character Judge/Magician Harry Anderson.

Cloth dickies are also often used in marching band uniforms.

Hard plastic dickeys have long since gone out of manufacture and fashion, but cloth turtleneck

Polo neck

A polo neck or turtle neck or skivvy is a garment—usually a sweater—with a close-fitting, round, and high collar that folds over and covers the neck...

-style dickeys are still sometimes seen, for example on the TV series The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...

, worn by the character Howard Wolowitz

Howard Wolowitz

Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.Among the main male characters in the show, Howard is distinguished for lacking a doctoral degree, for still living with his mother, and for believing himself to...

, as well as in Dinner for Schmucks

Dinner for Schmucks

Dinner for Schmucks, a 2010 screwball comedy film, is the American adaptation of the French film Le Dîner de Cons , being described by the director as "inspired by" the original rather than a remake of it...

 character Therman Murch, played by Zach Galifianakis

Zach Galifianakis

Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...

wore a orange turtleneck dickey.