There are few articles of clothing as iconic as an Oxford shirt. Oxford cloth, originally woven in a Scottish mill in the nineteenth century and so named to imply an association with the posh university, is famously employed in the Oxford cloth button-down (a garment that has earned the shorthand OCBD). Traditional details include an unlined, rolled button-down collar (to secure it during polo matches), often a box pleat (for movement), and a single chest pocket. As it has evolved over its more than one-hundred-year history, the Oxford cloth shirt has seen subtle shifts in design. But perhaps none feel as relevant—particularly for Southerners—as the new Oxford styles for both men and women from Charleston shirtmaker E.M. Reitz.
The sturdy cotton basketweave of Oxford cloth can often feel thick and heavy—a tough sell for sweltering summers. Not so with E.M. Reitz’s shirt, which is woven at a century-old mill in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture. The region is known for the technique of banshu-ori, in which fine threads are dyed before weaving, then washed for the weave to open up, resulting in a buttery texture. The result feels worn in, vintage—as though you’ve had it for years—and is lighter and more comfortable for year-round wear in the South. The soft palette of the current collection includes a dusty lavender (“kunzite”), a creamy white (“milk”), and a pale yellow (“rays”), with new colors introduced seasonally, including a navy out this fall.
“It has almost a heathered, powdery look, with enough space between the yarns for the fibers to bloom, and you get this pillowy feel,” explains founder Erin Reitz, whose fashion career has included stints at Ann Taylor, Anne Klein, and Alabama Chanin. “It’s lightweight and drapey—you almost feel like you’re in bed or something.”
Reitz drafts the designs and drapes the garments at her Charleston studio, then works with a patternmaker and small sewing workrooms in Manhattan’s Garment District to produce them. “My goal is to make the best shirt made in America,” says Reitz, who launched her company with women’s shirts in 2022 and added men’s last October. “I am maniacal about three things: quality of fabric, fit, and construction.”
Reitz’s Oxford for women (called A Steady Hand) and men (Scouts Honor) both have a relaxed point of view, with a bit of a drop shoulder that’s a twist on the classic. The fit is slightly cocoony—generous but not oversized. Untucked, it flows; tucked, it billows.
And it’s built to last. Elbow patches are a cool-looking detail, but they also provide reinforcement, and a horizontal patch on the side seam reinforces tension there as well. Real trochus-shell buttons are hand-sewn and shanked with eighteen stitches of high-quality Gütermann thread per button. The shirt is hard-wearing and not precious (even at $480) and comes with a locker loop for hanging at the gym or the pool. Wear it to the playground or the beach, or dress it up with a full trouser and belt buckle.
Reitz notes that the original men’s Oxford cloth shirt began with a looser fit, and over time the shape veered snugger and more tailored. Now, she says, a look of ease is back: “We’re seeing more volume in menswear in general,” she says, “and it definitely applies to the Oxford.”
Currently, Reitz’s sales are mostly online and from seasonal trunk shows, but later this year she will open an appointment-based studio space in the renovated historic King Simons building. Also new this summer? A swim cover-up and a shirtdress, naturally.