Where does Oxford Cloth come from?

Oxford Cloth comes from the United Kingdom, Scotland, first documented in the late 1800s.

Plate No. 026fabric

First documented: late 1800s
Origin: Scotland, United Kingdom
Fiber: cotton
Weave: basket weave
Family: plain

Plate No. 026 · fabric

Oxford Cloth

Oxford cloth is a cotton shirting in a basket weave, classically with a dyed warp paired two-and-two against a white weft, which gives the cloth its fine checkerboard texture and softened color. It is heavier and more breathable than poplin and wears its wrinkles casually, which made it the cloth of the button-down collar and of American campus dress. Pinpoint and royal oxford are its finer-yarn, dressier siblings.

Illustration: an American college quad in the 1950s, students at a distance with books, ivy-covered brick, autumn trees — An American college quad in the 1950s, students at a distance with books, ivy-covered brick, autumn trees.

Named for

By trade tradition, one of four shirtings a Scottish mill named after universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, and Harvard. Only Oxford survived.

Common questions

What is Oxford Cloth made of?: Oxford cloth is a cotton shirting in a basket weave, classically with a dyed warp paired two-and-two against a white weft, which gives the cloth its fine checkerboard texture and softened color.
Where does Oxford Cloth come from?: Oxford Cloth comes from the United Kingdom, Scotland, first documented in the late 1800s.
What is Oxford Cloth named after?: By trade tradition, one of four shirtings a Scottish mill named after universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, and Harvard. Only Oxford survived.