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What is an Oxford shirt?
The oxford shirt takes its name from the fabric in which it is fashioned, the oxford fabric. It is therefore impossible to talk about the Oxford shirt without evoking the origins of the fabric that composes it.
Oxford fabric
Contrary to what one would be entitled to imagine, the Oxford fabric is not native to the city of the same name. It was conceived in the nineteenth century in Scotland, in a spinning mill. The factory in question had not manufactured only one fabric, but four, all named after famous British universities: Yale, Cambridge, Harvard and finally, Oxford. If the first three types of tissue have not survived, it's simply because they have not met the success of oxford. And this success is especially due to the beauty of this fabric. This beauty comes from its weave structure which gives it a slightly grainy appearance and a fine relief that gives it a beautiful look and a pleasant touch. Technically, the oxford fabric is woven from woven armor, with weft threads and warp threads of the same diameter but of a different color. If the warp threads are usually colored (usually sky blue or pale pink), the weft threads are white. This creates a subtle visual effect that, seen very closely, is revealed by a tiny two-tone checkerboard. So much so that the oxford fabric is as subtle and pleasing to the eye as it is to the touch.
But let's get to the subject that concerns us first: the Oxford shirt.
The oxford shirt
Al though elegant, the oxford shirt is rather a casual model than dressed. It was also originally adopted by polo players who made it a sporting use. The oxford shirt then crossed the Atlantic to arrive in North America where it was popularized by Brooks Brothers, one of the oldest and most prestigious American ready-to-wear brands. And it is this time the golden youth of the United States who seized this shirt. She made it one of the symbols of elegance that prevailed on Ivy League campuses. And so was born the style of the same name that, since the 1950s was a fury in the middle class American: tweed jacket or velvet, flannel pants, moccasins and especially, oxford shirt!
In France, the Ivy League style was never school. But the oxford shirt met with a great success from its appearance on the French market in the years 1970-1980. It must be said that with its beautiful fabric, more flexible than the usual poplin, its casual but elegant and buttoned collar, the oxford shirt offered all men an alternative choice and brought a little freshness in the guard -Evening. In addition, some very popular personalities had adopted in the manner of actors Steve McQueen or Sean Connery as the President of the United States John Fitzgerald Kennedy who used to wear the Oxford shirt on informal occasions.
So today still the oxford shirt is a model very popular with fashion lovers and there are few male locker rooms not to accommodate one or two on his hangers! Fashion designers have not been mistaken, who always offer some models of oxford shirts in their collections.
How to wear an oxford shirt?
The oxford shirt is not difficult to wear nor to match. It will generally wear without tie, open collar, on jeans or chino. In summer, we can freely roll up the sleeves. But this shirt will also be easily worn in winter under a sweater that we can choose with a round neck as well as a V-neck. Finally, if the Oxford shirt is not usually worn under a suit, she can be worn elegantly under a jacket. We will take care then to choose in his closet a jacket made of a nice fabric of tweed or velvet, which will interact perfectly with the slight relief of the oxford fabric.
