The long and short of it is that it probably doesn't matter.
As you get more into tying, you'll come across the names of Vince Marinaro and his student Datus Proper. Marinaro and Proper were two of the first authors to look at fly design rather than simply pattern.
In his book, A Modern Dry Fly Code, Marinaro argued that tall wings were important as the wing was the first object to enter into the trout's view. Marinaro liked cut wings, but his signature thorax style tie used relatively short hackle tied in in a criss cross matter. Marinaro did state that the hackle collar itself could make a surprisingly good wing and was known to fish Neversink Skaters during the Green Drake hatch.
In What the Trout Said, Proper argued that there wasn't much difference between what he called a hackle fly (no-wing) and a traditional winged fly. The positive for the winged fly, according to Proper, was that it presented a well defined wing outline which could be necessary for the most finicky fish. Positives for the hackle fly included that it was quicker to tie and always landed correctly (or at least looked the same landing on its side as it did landing right side up). The traditional winged fly is notorious for not landing properly (this in turn may or may not matter to the fish). Proper said he always started with a hackle fly and only went to a winged fly if he thought it necessary.
A variant, by the way, is a fly without wings but over sized collar hackle. I usually tie my flies with wings (they just look better to me), but, if I tie one without wings, I use hackle that is one size up (say, size 16 hackle for a size 18 fly).
Edit to add: above the water line, I don't think a hackle fly would look much different from a Comparadun - a design that many swear by.
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