Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
today's video is all about the oxford cloth button down shirt which is an all-American
staple that should be in the closet of every gentleman's wardrobe.
Oxford shirts are great because they pair well with a summer wardrobe as well as a winter
wardrobe.
They can be casual, they can be worn with a tie, with a blazer, with a tweed coat, or
just on their own without any neckwear.
They're also really hard wearing so it's perfect if you usually go through shirts very quickly.
There are many button down collar shirts out there but the oxford cloth button down shirt
is very specific.
So, what makes it so special?
First of all, it has a soft button down collar which means there's no interlining, it's just
the fabric.
The collar forms this beautiful S-curve around your tie knot and that's typical for this
collar.
In order for the collar to create this shape, it must be longer and the buttons must be
placed further up.
That means, the distance from the button to the end of the collar has to be less than
the collar itself.
Simply, excess fabric that creates the curve.
It's a little distinct feature and most button down collars do not have it, instead, they
lay flat and it just doesn't have this three-dimensional look to it which is why it's not desirable.
As you can see here on the mannequin, we have an oxford cloth shirt but that's with a rounded
cup collar with a collar pin so that's a very different style and even though it's an oxford
cloth shirt, it's not an oxford cloth button down.
This shirt is so popular that it got its own acronym so if you see OCBD that stand for
oxford cloth button down and it means soft rolled collar oxford cloth.
So, what exactly is oxford cloth?
Basically, it's a basket weave meaning, you have multiple strands together that are woven
like a canvas, like a plain weave.
It is simply one warp and one weft thread and it creates a fine, tightly knitted weave.
An oxford shirt on the other hand, can have two or sometimes three which gives it a coarser
look, that's especially true because the warp threads are usually colored such as blue.
In my case, the weft is white, it just adds a three-dimensional component to the color
of the oxford cloth.
This is a very characteristic feature.
With a white shirt, you'll have white warp and white weft so you won't get this effect.
As mentioned before, the strands of the oxford and how many yarns put together can vary and
even though a coarser structure can be quite attractive, it's important to bear in mind
that it's more easy to pull the thread with more strands being combined together.
SO if you want a hard wearing shirt, you should get something in the middle between a plain
weave because they will last you for a very long time.
What other hallmarks does an OCBD have?
Apart from the buttons in the collar, you want a few other things.
First, you want a shirt placket that is separate, creates a symmetrical look with regular buttons.
Second, you want a chest pocket.
A chest pocket is part of the casual heritage of the OCBD and you definitely don't want
to skip it.
Normally, I'm not a big fan of chest pockets, I try to avoid them whenever I can, however,
for my OCBD shirts, I always have them.
Another feature you want to look for are barrel cuffs that either have one button or two buttons
and they should be rather tight because normally, just like the collar, there's no interlining
so they're quite soft and if it's too wide, you easily get wrinkles which just doesn't
look very favorable.
Other than that, a traditional American oxford cloth button down shirt is cut very wide,
lots of room for movement.
Now, while that's true on your body,you want to avoid having armhole that are too big because
otherwise, when you move up your arm, your shirt comes untucked and it's not comfortable.
Traditional oxford cloth button down shirts are cut very long in the front and in the
back to prevent them from coming untucked at any time during the day.
In the back, you usually have a box pleat which gives you extra space and range of movement.
Now let's talk about the history of the oxford cloth button down shirt and why it's such
an American staple.
To understand the background of the OCBD, we have to look at the button down collar.
It was originally invented in India and it was meant for polo players to keep their collar
down during the excercise.
Otherwise, it would flap up in the wind and in player's faces so sometimes, they couldn't
see.
It was a very practical and functional feature.
From India, it made its way to England where it was seen by a member of the Brooks Brothers
family and so in 1896, they brought this collar to the US.
It was Brooks Brothers who had the idea to combine this style of collar with an oxford
fabric and people really loved it.
Back then, was very hard on shirts and people then wore them with lounge suit til the 50s,
they wore primarily casual.
To get the full history of the oxford cloth button down shirt with more details, please
check out our in-depth guide on our website here.
It was a comfortable shirt and people like them for it.
Also, actors like Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Fred Astaire would wear it and so the shirt
would get the mass appeal because people would see it on the screen and wanted to buy it
afterwards.
Outside of the US, one of the biggest proponents of the oxford cloth button down of Brooks
Brothers was Gianni Agnelli.
As a CEO of Fiat, he could have afforded any kind of custom shirt there was but he chose
off the rack shirts from Brooks Brothers.
He combined them with flannel suits, he would wear his wristwatch on top of the cuff and
it was just one of his favorite shirts and so people wanted to emulate his style as an
Italian industrialist so it became an iconic garment, even outside the US.
Obviously, the shirt was very versatile.it could be worn casually on its own, could be
paired with suits, and sport coats.
So for men, who often like simplicity, it was this one garment they could wear with
anything.
Stay tuned for a video about specific outfit ideas for the oxford cloth button down shirt,
the different colors, and how you can combine them.
Now, the original Brooks Brothers shirt has changed quite a bit and it's not really what
it used to be anymore.
If you want to learn what tradition oxford cloth button down shirts we recommend, please
go to our full-fledged guide here where I give you several options.
So what are the OCBD dos and don'ts?
First of all, do not wear it with formal wear.
That means, no tuxedo, no tailcoat, no morning coat but even a formal three-piece suit would
not look good with it because it just clashes in terms of formality.
If you work in an environment where business casual is a dress code, the oxford shirt is
the perfect companion.
To learn more about business casual outfits and the proper dress code, please check out
our video, here.
In a traditional white collar environment, the oxford cloth button down shirt even in
plain white is a bit too casual, too soft, and I would go with poplin.
When it gets warm sometimes, people wear OCBDs with short sleeves however, that's not the
proper look.
An oxford cloth button down shirt should always have long sleeves and if you're too hot, simply
switch to a polo shirt.
You can learn more about them and the different styles, here.
Do wear oxford cloth button down shirts on the weekend, it underlines the casual character,
it's a perfect weekend shirt.
Do not wear oxford cloth button down shirts to interviews because it's just not formal
enough and to learn more about what exactly you should wear to an interview, check out
this video, here.
So what should you look for in the OCBD?
As I mentioned, soft-roll collar, oxford fabric that is not too wide with the strands.
Also, try to get a 100% cotton because it just feels better in your skin.
There are lots of polyblends out there because they last longer but if you can afford it,
go with a 100% cotton.
Because it's such a hard wearing shirt, you can buy them vintage and you can even get
the original, old brooks brothers ones and you can't get it anymore today.
Again, skip the cufflinks on the shirt, go with long sleeves, and no short sleeves.
Regarding tie knots, you do not have a huge tie gap which calls for a small knot such
as the oriental knot which you can learn here or a four in hand knot.
If you like a bigger knot, you can just wrap it around once more or you get a tie with
a thicker interlining but stay clear of half windsor or a regular windsor because it just
doesn't work with the cut of the collar.
To start, I recommend you invest in a light blue oxford shirt, it's one of the most versatile
ones as well as a plain white one.
Once you got those covered and you want more, you can switch to other pastel colors.
For example, it could be something orange like here, something maybe green, something
light purple or lavander, even something pink.
You can also find oxford cloth button down shirts with stripes, either white bengal stripes
or slim stripes.
I'd invest in those once you get the basics covered.
For more outfit ideas, please stay tuned for another video.
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