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The Unassailable Appeal of the Oxford Cloth Button Down Shirt

Menswear Musings in an Eidos sport coat, cashmere navy ancient madder neat tie and blue oxford shirt
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Nobody expects that life will stay the same once you have a baby. But exactly how things will change, you can never predict. For me, I figured I’d find myself wearing dry-clean-only garments a little less, and machine washable things a little more once our son was born.

That’s been true for me in the 2 months since Stirling arrived. But what I didn’t expect is that my tastes might change. Where as before, I was insatiably interested in tailored jackets (often at the expense of shoes, shirts, watches, ties and trousers), now I’m finding that I can direct my attention toward those neglected areas and find a lot of pleasure in them in a way I didn’t before.

One way this has manifested is a renewed interest in the Oxford cloth button down shirt. “Yeah yeah yeah, old news—tell 2013 about your obsession with the OCBD, Moss.” But I keep reading that Ivy is supposedly making a resurgence, with Noah and Rowing Blazers at the forefront, reinterpreting it in the age of sneaker culture. As beloved Nashville musician Ben Folds crooned, “They get nostalgic about the last ten years, before the last ten years have passed.”

Who cares what the fashion cycles are doing—it’s never been a better time to buy Oxford shirts. Brooks Brothers has “restored the roll,” Drake’s sells a button-down that somehow outdoes the source it’s based on, Kamakura continues selling their classic collar as well as a more pointed unlined sport version, O’Connell’s keeps on trucking as always with their traditional version, and online custom shirt makers Proper Cloth and Ratio each have full, beautiful collar rolls that you can put on a shirt with perfect measurements to fit you. And there’s always Mercer & Sons, who will accommodate your preference for a shirt that doesn’t fit like a sail by adjusting the body pattern down 2 full stops compared to your collar size. If that’s your thing.

Of course I’ve always been into the OCBD—it’s a menswear rite of passage. But true to menswear geek form, that’s usually meant obsessing about collar point length, spread, band height, interlining, cuff lining, pocket or no, and the list goes on. Not that those details aren’t important—but they’re all secondary to really one thing: does it roll? And secondarily: does it fit?

Thankfully, those Brooks Brothers “restored roll” OCBDs can get you really close on the second question (if not right on), and a definite yes on the first—while hitting almost all of the other check marks of the obsessive (i.e. no interlining in the collar, cuffs or placket; no pocket; a good point length; and a traditional, more pointed-style collar spread). I just ordered a Brooks Brothers standard-blue OCBD in the Milano fit (their slimmest). In the past, I’ve felt their standard blue Oxford cloth is a bit too muted—grayish in its hue, relatively dark in its brightness value. Those things are both true—but man I’ve found a new appreciation for it. Generally speaking, I prefer brighter, or lighter, blue shirts—my favorites are my Eidos broadcloth, my ProperCloth linen-cotton Oxford cloth, and the Proper Cloth wide-stripe Pima cotton Oxford I got this summer. But the classic Brooks blue, particularly in the winter months, paired with British khaki chinos against a brown tweed, or under a navy cashmere sweater, or with an olive Sykloil Barbour jacket—it just feels right.

My friend Zach recommended I go with Ratio instead of Brooks—their Fitzgerald button-down can be made completely unlined, and sports a more pointed look, and has longer collar points than Brooks. They stock a blue Oxford fabric almost identical (if not indeed the same as) the Brooks, and it’s made at the same factory in North Carolina. I plan to try Ratio, but I couldn’t resist the undeniable appeal to having a classic Brooks OCBD that I can pass on to my son some day. That 7-pleat shirring at the cuff carries meaning for me.

The collar roll on a Proper Cloth light blue heavy Oxford shirt.

Speaking of the traditional collar shape, I’ve come up with a classification system. The more point-collar on one column, with the more spread-collar on the other. Neither is more correct than the other, as you can find historical photos of either. It seems that some time in the mid 20th century, they became more spread. Kamakura and Proper Cloth base theirs on that look (and Spier and Mackay apes this shape as well). Antonio Ciongoli says he copied his dad’s mid-50s Brooks OCBD collar shape for Eidos’ button-down shirt, which he named Aldo (after a nickname of his dad’s). I have one of those, and it’s nearly identical to Proper Cloth’s in dimensions (except it’s unlined completely, and has a button at the back).

The collar roll on the new, unlined Brooks Brothers OCBD.

On the other hand is the more pointed collar shape—which Brooks has been making for some decades now (only now it’s unlined once again of course). Kamakura now sells one like this, completely unlined, calling it a “sport” model. Ratio has this more pointed look, as does Drake’s, who quite honestly has my favorite collar shape of anybody in this column (it’s a shame it’s just so expensive). And other classic retailers, like Mercer’s and O’Connell’s of Buffalo stick to this shape, as well. 

I appreciate both shapes, but generally lean toward the spread shape of Kamakura and Proper Cloth. Your own taste will vary—too big, too spread, like some European designers make it, and it becomes a caricature. Anglo-Italian’s collar shape goes about as far in that direction as it can go without becoming costume-y. I’ve been coveting their wide-stripe blue Oxford shirt for some time now.

Jake Grantham of Anglo-Italian in their wide-blue stripe OCBD.
Photo courtesy of his Instagram.

My ideal OCBD line-up

Standard, muted blue Brooks OCBD. The color is most at home with a winter palette, with tweeds and Barbour jackets, ancient madders and flannel trousers. Wears well on its own, too.

Light or mid blue from Ratio. Their collar can be made unlined by request, and it’s a fantastic expression from what I’ve seen. It’s like the Brooks collar of today, but just a little extra.

White from Spier and Mackay or Ratio, made to order unlined. I like Spier’s slightly more spread expression. But Ratio’s is great, as I said, and their provenance (at the same factory as Brooks Brothers), for a small increase in price, makes me feel good. 

Blue university stripe from Proper Cloth or Kamakura. I’m picky with university stripes. Brooks standard blue stripe uses that regular dusty gray-blue color for the stripe, so it just looks dingy to me. Others tend to go too light, like a sky blue, and it lacks contrast and punch. ProperCloth’s light blue heavy oxford is a fantastic color blue, that contrasts very well, and their stripes are ever so slightly wider than the typical, which makes the color pop even more. Kamakura comes out with various blue university stripes and usually has one with a good, contrasty blue like this one.

Light blue wide stripe oxford from Anglo Italian, Drake’s or Brooks. Anglo’s in no way is a classic OCBD collar shape but in this configuration it’s so incredibly handsome (sadly it is out of stock, but I’m hopeful it’ll return as they’ve restocked it before). Drake’s makes a great one too. Brooks does seasonal stripes and their light blue from last year was great (perennial Styleforum and eBay seller Steve Smith even has some for sale in a few sizes). I wish I had gotten one but I’m hopeful it will make a comeback this spring.


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Comments10

  1. Hey Mitchell, loved the post!
    I’ve got a question for you regarding OCBDs.
    I’m thinking of getting one from either Ratio Clothing or Proper Cloth and I can’t decide between the two. I’ve been searching for a proper OCBD with a proper collar roll for ages and finally stumbled upon Ratio Clothing and Proper Cloth but now I can’t seem to decide between the two so I wanted to ask you, as someone who owns/has tried both the Ratio Clothing OCBD with the Fitzgerald collar and the Proper Cloth OCBD with the Soft Ivy collar. Which collar (Fitzgerald from Ratio and Soft Ivy from Proper Cloth) gives the BEST roll. What were the differences you found between the two? This would greatly help me in deciding which one to go for!

    1. Hi! Glad to help.
      Between the two companies, I prefer Proper Cloth’s collar shape of the soft Ivy. Ratio’s is more classic—more of a point collar with a button on it, rather than slightly spread with a button on it. The PC $85 oxford cloth is really good, too. Ratio’s biggest claim to fame previously was being made in NC by the Brooks Brothers factory—but that’s no more.
      PC also introduced a new button down that’s got even longer collar points, the soft Roma button-down. I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t vouch for it.
      Use my referral link at PC to get a discount on your first shirt: https://propercloth.com/i/zaz0u7 (I’ll also get store credit)

  2. Hello Mitchell, thank you for this post! I’ve taken a look at your “OCBD guide” with the venn diagram and the fact that Ratio Clothing was the only one located in the three intersections of circles I was compelled to purchase their OCBD immediately (Fitzgerald collar, unlined, unlined placket and cuff). I got a shipping dispatch note yesterday, though, and it seems like they now ship their clothes from Vietnam, which means they’re not made in USA anymore? I’m not entirely sure what’s happening with Ratio, but if it is the case that Ratio is not made in USA anymore, would you still recommend their OCBDs? I also ordered Proper Cloth OCBDs (Soft Ivy Collar, Soft placket, Soft cuffs) but I already knew they were made outside of the US. It was disappointing to see the dispatch note coming from Vietnam, not USA.

    I’m just wondering what your opinions are. Thank you!

    1. Hi Phillip. Sorry my post was misleading!
      I was not aware they’d switched to Vietnam, but was aware they’d moved away production on some shirts from Garland in 2020, which I put in an update on my post about Ratio here when it happened: https://www.menswearmusings.com/free-product-review-ratio-custom-fit-oxford-shirt/

      However, that was right before Brooks Brothers went into bankruptcy and sold off their factories in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. Brooks, as you might recall, was trying to sell itself, so at the time it made sense that Ratio was trying to protect itself by diversifying their shirt makers. Then the pandemic threw everything into chaos, and things went south fast for Brooks. At the time my personal hang-up was the placket width (they’ve restored the ability to make a wide placket btw… I wonder if the Vietnam factory is the one that allows them to do that?). If the quality is the same, and you can trust the factory to have humane working conditions, I’m still fine with overseas production, depending on price. But those are all big ifs!

      Anyway, I hope the shirt is sweet and you’re happy with it.

      My go-to OCBD makers these days are basically Proper Cloth (soft Ivy or their new, even bigger Roma button-down) or Spier & Mackay custom shirts. Brooks is selling made-in-USA ones again, but the price went way up again.
      Also take a look at the MTM program from Kamakura! The interface is junky but as far as getting the important things right, who better than them?

      1. Hello Mitchell,

        Thank you so much for the reply! I’ll see if the quality is still pretty good when I receive them soon. This is my first custom OCBD so I may have high expectations, haha. Yes it seems like now their standard placket width is 1 1/2″, which is great, and the fact that they can provide unlined placket and cuff and collar is very attractive as well. I was just a little hung up about the country of manufacture.

        I’ll definitely have to look into Spier Mackay’s OCBDs, I’ve heard a lot of good things about them. Also Kamakura’s MTM program is still very appealing, though it is a bit out of my price range as of now (over $100)… but one day I’d like to try! :)

      2. Ah, I forgot to add — would you say, in your opinion, whether the placket and the cuff and the collar are unlined matters a lot, or does it not? Can just unfused/soft ones be as good as the unlined ones? Curious to hear what you think. :)

  3. Hi Mitchell,
    I was wondering how the C22 collar from Spier and Mackay and if so, how does it compare to the Brooks Brothers collar.
    Thank you in advance.

    1. I just realized my question makes absolutely no sense. What I meant is if you’ve ever tried on the C22 collar from Spier and Mackay and if so, how does it compare to collars from Brooks Brothers.
      Thank you in advance.

      1. If I’ve tried it, I don’t specifically recall. Looking at their measurements, though, it’ll be bigger and more spread than the Brooks Brothers collar. Collar points measure at 3.75″; I believe Brooks’ are more like 3.375″. And the spread of the collar/spacing of the buttons is going to be more spread—Brooks has a decidedly point collar shape.
        I will go out on a limb and say I would prefer the Spier C22 (which is found even on some of their RTW shirts, such as this reverse stripe, meaning you could give it a try with low risk): imp.i317572.net/n1MmNa

        1. Thank you so much for your speedy response and the great information. I hope you have a nice rest of your day.

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