A Classic Shirt Is Back

Let me tell you something that you already know: All things in fashion come back around eventually—some sooner than others. And while you could argue that the Oxford cloth button-down never went out of fashion, it certainly was pushed to the back of the closet for the last few years. But, with '90s normcore and prep on the rebound for 2024, the OCBD is officially back on the list of “essentials” you want for spring and summer.

Interestingly, this classic shirt and it's origin story is something of a miracle. It shouldn't have become as big as it did. There was not some grand plan. In 1896, John E. Brooks—whose grandfather founded Brooks Brothers—noticed how English polo players pinned their collars down to keep them from flapping up during matches. Inspired, he developed a type of shirt that used buttons to carry out the same task. It was unlike most shirts at the time, which came with detachable collars. That could've backfired spectacularly.

Even the fabric—a sturdy basketweave cotton—came about somewhat haphazardly. There's no real connection to the famed British University. Apparently, the shirt's signature fabric was just one of four named after a group of schools picked by a Scottish mill for their associations with society's moneyed academic upper class. Of course, from that quartet (the others were Harvard, Yale and Cambridge), the Oxford was the only one to achieve icon status. It became part of the midcentury American uniform and an emblem of American prep as a reliable “sport shirt” and then as a casual style staple.

What's great about the OCBD is just how infinitely wearable it is. Collar buttoned or unbuttoned, tucked or untucked, wrinkled out of the dryer or pressed with an iron, it basically always looks good. It can be dressed up with a blazer and proper trousers and some nice shoes. It looks great dressed down with faded jeans or relaxed chinos and your favorite loafers or sneakers. You can wear one to a job interview with a tie just as easily as you can wear one on the weekend over a T-shirt. It's a shirt that requires little from you, and yet it always has you looking put-together. And these days, you can choose from a relaxed, boxier fit or something a little more tailored. To help you choose, we pulled together some of the best ones on the market today.