Few garments are worn as often, or chosen as casually, as the shirt. We'll spend weeks deciding on a coat, then grab a shirt on the way to the till. But the shirt is what sits closest to you all day, under a jacket, beneath a jumper or out on its own. It deserves more thought than it gets. Here is the Oliver Spencer range, broken down by how it's sized, how it's cut and what it's made from.
Start With Sizing
The first thing to know is that our shirts are sized in two ways. The New York Special and the Brook are sized by collar, from 14.5 to 17.5 inches. These are our most tailored shirts, so collar size is the most reliable starting point. If you wear them buttoned to the top or with a tie, measure your neck rather than guessing.
Everything else, including the Corby, Atlanta, Garrison, Mulvey and Penryn, is sized from XS to XXL, with the Corby also starting at XXS. These styles are made to be worn with the top button undone and often untucked, so the fit comes from the chest and shoulders rather than the neck.
The Three Fits
Regular, collar-sized: the New York Special and the Brook
The New York Special is a modern classic and one of our most popular shirts for good reason. It's a regular fit with a spear collar, a chest patch pocket and single-button cuffs. This is the shirt to wear under tailoring, sharp enough for a jacket but easy enough to wear on its own.
The Brook is the button-down. Its roots are military: British officers first wore it to play polo while stationed in India. It then became an icon of preppy Americana, taken up by the Ivy League set in the 1950s and 60s. More than half a century later, it remains the cornerstone of smart-casual dressing.
