How To Look Awesome Wearing An Oxford Shirt [0:00:00]
Today's video, how to look awesome wearing an oxford shirt.
Gentlemen, are you ready?
Let's get into it.
[Music] So, let's start this video off by talking
about what is exactly an oxford shirt because the word gets thrown around quite a bit and
a lot of people are confused.
They think they're wearing an oxford, they're not, they think they're wearing a dress shirt
and they're actually wearing an oxford.
So, the word oxford refers specifically to the fabric.
Now, let's talk about what makes oxford fabric oxford fabric.
Really it comes down to it is a basket weave and this is the key right here multiple weft
threads are crossed over an equal number of warp threads where the threads of a single
color are mixed with white.
So, what we see is oftentimes a dark blue mixed with the white and we get what you see
right here, a lighter blue.
If I go in and I look specifically at this, I'm going to see there is a darker blue in
there mixed with the white.
So the warp weft basically they're going over each other they are mixing to form a lighter
color.
So, a lot of oxfords out there are going to be -- they're going to look like pastels.
Now, the mixing of the white with the dark color, you don't have to always follow that
and a lot of mills, they don't stick with it.
Traditionally, that's what an oxford was, but nowadays we see a lot of white on white,
we see sometimes blue on blue.
It doesn't always have to go with that, but traditionally that's what you would see in
an oxford.
So now, you better understand the fabrics.
Let's talk about oxford styles.
So, the fabric is casual, therefore the shirt style should be casual.
Makes sense, right?
So, what we're going to see are things like button-down collars.
The soft roll button-down collar is oftentimes synonymous with the word oxford shirt.
Whenever you think of the oxford shirt, many people instantly think the button-down collar.
It does not have to have a button-down collar, but it works well with the fabric with the
casual overall feel of the shirt.
Now, the pocket over here.
You don't have to have a pocket with your oxfords, but often times you will see a pocket.
A pocket does make a shirt more casual.
What you're not going to see on an oxford though, you're not going to see epaulets up
here on the shoulders, you’re not going to see side pockets.
Now, a shirt doesn't have to have that type of a collar, it can have actually -- this
right here is a little bit of a spread collar.
You won't probably see too many point collars on an oxford.
Not that you can't wear a tie with an oxford, in fact, I think an oxford looks great with
a tie.
But, this one right here went for a sleeker overall look.
Now, with all this talk about oxford fabrics oxford styles, you may be asking is an oxford
shirt an actual dress shirt?
The answer is no.
Now, many people wear it as a dress shirt and many people are not going to notice the
difference, but an oxford shirt is actually made to be worn as outerwear.
A dress shirt is made to be worn under a jacket.
It's a small distinction, but it's an important one to understand, again, where the oxford
shirt fits in your wardrobe.
This is something that you can wear without a jacket.
Now, it looks great layered and worn with other things as I'm about to show you, but
this shirt in of itself is not truly a dress shirt, it's more of a casual button-down I
think that looks great.
So, you can wear this with shorts, yes, you can.
When you roll up the sleeves you can wear it untucked, yes, you can when it's the right
length.
So, that gives actually this shirt a lot more versatility than a normal dress shirt.
So, here in a second, guys, I'm going to talk about outfits.
I'm going to talk about how to take these oxford shirts to match them with jackets,
with shoes, with sweaters, with jeans, all that stuff.
, really quick, if you're seeing some shirts that you like you see some jeans that you
like, go grab him over at Mott & Bow, they’re the paid sponsor in today's video.
I'm linking to them down in the description.
For over a year, I've been working with Mott & Bow wearing their jeans wearing their shirts.
Actually, they just sent me these shirts and I love them.
Guys, there's a lot of great things I can say about Mott & Bow, but number one for me
is their attention to detail specifically in their choice of where they're getting their
fabrics.
When I saw that they actually had fabric weights on their website and then they traced it back
to these Italian mills that have been around for 200 years, I knew this was a great thing.
Lightweight fabrics you have to worry about because they could wear out faster, unless
they're coming from a great mill that's using a long strand cotton fiber and that's exactly
what these guys were doing.
What that translates into, guys, is you get a very lightweight oxford that is incredibly
durable, it feels amazing and you don't have the weight -- a lot of oxfords they don't
breathe as well, you can't layer with them, so with a lighter weight oxford like they
did here all of a sudden, I can work with everything I've got here.
So, little things like that when I look at their jeans which I've had their jeans now
for like a year- and-a-half.
I loved it initially because I'm like looking at this denim, it was a very lightweight it
was a breathable.
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in hot areas.
I was in Thailand wearing their jeans and to me, a company that pays attention to their
fabrics, I look at the sewing the network, I look at the -- the way they put the buttons
on, those type of details matter.
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So first up, we're going to put together a few outfits with the light blue oxford.
This is a classic look probably the first oxford I would recommend a man start off with.
Again, it's got the darker blue mixed with the white and what we get is this lighter
blue.
Very versatile something that, yes, you could wear it with the button-down you can have
the pocket or you could go for a cleaner look.
Me in particular, I probably would go with this, I just find that this works better for
my body build and I like this style, but, hey, if you like the button-down collar, go
for it, you've got both options.
Now, what are we going to wear with this?
I think that this is going to need to be dressed down.
So knowing that, I could bring in a nice trucker jacket right here.
I'm a big fan of layering with this look.
Now, what am I going to wear for below?
I would probably go for chinos, you could really even bring in a red pair of chinos,
but maybe you want to just go for something that has, you know, more of a tan color to
it.
You could also wear a corduroy.
You want to be careful though of wearing jeans that are of a similar color, you don't want
to go for the Canadian tuxedo there.
So, my next outfit, I'm going to stick with the same colored shirt, I'm going to go with
a dark pair of jeans and I'm going to go with this sweater right here.
Instantly, what do we notice?
It's probably the collar, the nice shawl collar and also the military-inspired shoulders that
extra bit of padding right on here.
Now, this color works particularly for me.
I love greens – olive greens in particular.
I love dark browns.
I love blues.
And, you probably have certain colors you gravitate naturally towards.
Now, what to do about the footwear?
So, I'm going to bring in a pair right here of rugged Chelsea boots.
These are slip-on, they've got basically a rubber sole.
These are great for traction and I feel this overall combination would look great.
Next up, I'm going to take that last combination and I'm simply going to switch out that sweater
or I would layer on top of it.
So, see, I'm going for multiple layers here because this brown would work with that green
would work with this blue.
Or, I could just ditch the sweater, some of you guys may not have liked it and I could
just go with this moto-inspired leather jacket.
So, for this the next outfit, I'm simply going to change out the shirt.
I'm going to wear the same dark-colored jeans and I'm going to go for a more monochromatic
look.
Now, many of you guys may be saying, Antonio, is that really an oxford because when I look
at this fabric it looks like it's made from the same type of yarn.
Remember, an oxford traditionally had a white yarn mixed with a dark-colored yarn, that's
traditionally.
This is a modern interpretation, it does still use a basket weave and therefore it can still
be classified as an oxford.
Now, because of the dark color, it's always going to be a more casual shirt.
Actually, almost more casual than this one right here even though it has cleaner style
details.
So, what would I mix and match?
Well, I could go with the same moto jacket right there, right?
Or I could dress it up and I could go for this look.
I could even bring in a casual tie with this wear those same dark- colored jeans, maybe
go with a laced boot maybe even go with a dress shoe if the jeans are tapered fit me
well.
So, you can see how you can have fun with this you can dress it up you can dress it
down.
Now, let's dress things up.
So, we're going to go ahead and we're simply going to change out the shirt, we're going
to go with the white on white.
For many people, they’re going to think this is a dress shirt, but you know there
is a difference.
First off, let's look at the weave.
It's got more of a texture to it, it's got a rougher weave.
This is clearly a basket weave.
Now, next up, you notice the style details it's got the button it's got the pocket.
Okay, this isn’t oxford.
It's not technically a dress shirt, but I can wear it in many ways as one.
So what would you wear with this?
Well, if you're going to dress up those jeans, you could maybe bring in this sports jacket
right here.
This one's going to be -- right here see how it works with the white?
Brings out the small details right here in the jacket, but this is all still a casual
outfit, but you'll still be the best-dressed man in the room even though you're dressing
casually.
You could possibly bring in a tie with this, wear this with jeans, maybe with those dress
boots.
But, let's say you want to step it up even higher.
Well, that's where you bring in a casual suit.
So, a casual suit jacket trousers made from the same material bring in this white oxford
shirt, boom!
You've got a nice contrast.
This is something that is going to really level up your style.
You could bring in a wide variety of neckties, different colors.
Have fun with it.
Wear this obviously with dress shoes.
You probably would want to go with I think an oxblood, maybe a dark brown.
But, again, it depends also on your colors, your complexion, what you really like and
what you've got in your wardrobe.
All right, gents, now it's your turn.
Let me know down in the comments what outfits did you like, what outfits maybe not so much.
How would you have changed some of the outfit suggestions?
How do you wear your oxford shirts?
I want to hear from you guys.
You know I love your comments, I love interacting with you down there.
And go check out Mott & Bow.
I'm going to link to them down in the description.
Great company.
I love how they pay attention to the fabric to the attention to detail the way they sew
on the buttons.
All those small details matter when you want to look good when you want to dress with style.
Again, guys, I'm going to link to it down in the description.
There's a discount code down there.
Use it or lose it, guys.
It's not going to be around forever and I can tell you that they don't put them out
very often.
And last but not least, gentlemen, I want to thank you for being a part of the community
we've created here at Real Men Real Style.
I appreciate you guys reaching out to me for you giving me feedback on these videos - how
I can get better, how I can improve, how I can give you the information you need to become
the man you know yourself to be.
That's it guys.
Take care.
I'll see you in the next video.
[0:10:30] End of Audio