The Great American-Made Oxford Roundup
So, a month ago I asked for some oxford advice and it ended up pushing me down a rabbit hole. Who is making nice American-made OCBDs? Where do you go when you're willing to drop a bit of cash on some nice shirts, ethically produced? There were a few options and internet research can only take you so far, so I ordered 3 of options and tried them on. Here are my results. I haven't done this before so I'm going to try this in a thread. And FYI, each of these shirts was a size large.
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Nit: MiUSA != “ethically produced”. If you want MiUSA that’s fine, but it’s not guarantee of ethical production
Excited to see which ones you picked!
First was Gitman Vintage. I liked these. The large was slim but not too tight, though it was a little tight in the arms (I'm reasonably muscular, but not super muscular). The fabric had decent heft without being heavy, even if it was quite wrinkled out of the package! The arm length felt about right. I found a couple on sale and the price wasn't half bad either. While they are priced at ~220, I think I nabbed them on sale at Huckberry for closer to $140. Overall, it seemed a strong possibility.
If you're in the nyc metro, cego shirtmakers is great
Second was New England Shirt Company. I wanted to like them, but I was seriously left wanting. The fabric had a bit of a sheen to it and it semed I could see through it more easily. The sleeves were a bit shorter, and while the boxier fit may have been a bit more classic, it wasn't quite to my liking. Not a bad shirt, but it didn't spark joy, so to speak. Though I got a decent sale, they also go for ~200+, so I wanted some serious joy sparking for that price point.
Finally was American Trench. They'd recently dropped a "Slow Weave" Oxford using Japanese fabric. It was expensive, at $250. And it was...not bad. The fabric felt pretty good, the fit was also boxy like NESC, the sleeve length was better. Others had pointed out that the collar was a bit short.
For me personally, Gitman Vintage won hands down. It gave me those classic Ivy league vibes. I liked the fabric and the fit the best. And it didn't hurt that those shirts were the most affordable of the batch too. No one made a bad shirt, but I had my issues with both NESC and AT. As a side note - I found out later that NESC actually makes the AT shirt, using the AT-provided Japanese fabric. Interesting. Surprising that the collar length and sleeve length were very different for the NESC and AT shirts.
Since I know folks feel strongly about the collar length:
Gitman Vintage: 2.875"
New England Shirt Company: 3.0"
American Trench: 2.375"
GV won the day for me. Second place was likely American Trench, with NESC in third place. But like I mentioned, all the shirts were good quality, and it depends a lot on what fit you're looking for. I bought the white and a pinstripe white and blue. Looking forward to having these new threads for a new engineering job. Thanks for reading!
Haha yes I believe we discussed this a bit in another thread. I largely agree, though MiUSA is a very strong starting point for ethical production. If you're looking at suspiciously cheap clothing made in LA, then I raise an eyebrow. If the price point feels reasonable and it's made in factories in New England, middle-America, etc, I feel like ethically produced and MiUSA are likely synonymous. But it's always good to ask the store, ask them about their factories, and look on websites like GoodonYou to see if they've been rated.
Dang no J Press or BB and kinda surprised at this budget that Wythe didn't make the list either
Brooks Brothers has a few shirts MiUSA, but I'm more interested in brands that exclusively produce in America. And Wythe is made in India. But generally speaking, I'm just getting the conversation started! Would love for other folks to do their own show and tells and weigh in.
Thanks for posting this. Been curious about NESC for a while, a little disappointed there
What was the sizing type for these? They look alpha sized
Another USA made brand: mercer & sons
At the price point of these brands, I would also explore bespoke options especially if you're in a major metro as it may not be more expensive
But I appreciate the list!
Each shirt was size large.
I looked at Mercer, but phew was I confused. Their website looks like it was out of '98 and that they generally do bespoke/custom? Also, I could tell they did an ultraclassic (very long and very boxy) fit from other reviews, so I chose to pass. And, knowing I was gonna be downselecting to one, three was about the most I was willing to do in turns of ordering and returning, haha.
Isn’t Wythe made in India? I’ve heard decent things about made in India shirts and I recently picked up a 3Sixteen flannel on sale that is made in India. It seems to be on par with their older MiUSA shirts. But Made in India wouldn’t meet OP’s criteria
Really surprised no J Press, Brooks or Mercer considering they have the best collar rolls in the game. NESC had the best roll here but the sizing looks funky. I’ve seen ads for Gitman vintage but they look insanely pricy compared to other options.
I’m a kamakura fan though, not MiUSA but great shirts
Somebody uses excel or similar software quite often lol
For future readers, another roundup from an old Reddit thread: (CT/Uniqlo/Everlane/Spier/Asket/TM Lewin) https://affordableearl.com/tag/ocbd/
What about Taylor Stitch?