An Ode to Brooks Brothers Oxford Cloth Button Down

When Brooks Brothers released their unlined button-down collar Oxford shirts a couple years ago, I honestly sort of shrugged—as did others—better late than never.. At that point, there had been a renaissance of makers rushing to fill the market’s thirst for authentic OCBDs, many offering unlined collar options already, others doing custom fit, and others simply going for value.

I bought one this year, though, in the classic sometimes-love-it-sometimes-hate-it Brooks Brothers blue. Now that it’s cooled down (which is when I enjoy wearing Oxford shirts the most), I’ve been wearing it more, and man do I appreciate it.

I recently got a custom-fit Ratio Oxford shirt (many of which are made in the same factory as Brooks), which I customized with a taller collar band and longer collar points. It’s awesome, but man the fabric is so stiff. The Brooks is sturdy, but lightweight enough not to feel stiff. And that big collar looks great buttoned up with a tie, but un-buttoned, it’s a bit big and unwieldy. Brooks meanwhile looks perfectly proportional. My Proper Cloth Oxfords are heavy and have a beautiful collar shape, but the lining in the collar, placket and cuffs—light as it is—adds to the already heavy weight of the Oxford fabric to make it feel a bit thick.

The way I feel about these Brooks Brothers OCBDs is that they a perfectly realized distillation of the OCBD shirt. It sort of reminds me of Apple’s product design ethos especially under Jony Ive—removing everything unnecessary in order to get to the purest expression of a product, leaving only what matters in its most aesthetically pleasing and functional form.

The price—$140 retail—is high but they are easy enough to get on sale for close to $100, which is the same price everyone else sells OCBDs for (and half what Drake’s, which makes a mean OCBD themselves, sells them for).

Here’s the classic blue and white version (I wear Milano fit, and I’ve found that compared to previous versions that had the collar lining, I need to size down one in the neck for it to fit right; it makes the fit basically perfect, though the sleeves are a bit trim). They also have a nice seasonal selection with brighter blues and other fun colors like aqua. In particular I dig this lighter blue university stripe (the normal uni stripe is a bit too dark for my taste).

If you haven’t yet, I recommend getting one. Their current promotion is 30% off when you buy three, but there will no doubt be a promotion around Christmastime that will drop the price on any individual shirt (or if you have a corporate discount of 25%, that brings the price down to $105 all the time).

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