Knowledge Originally woven by Scottish cotton mills in the late 1800s, Oxford was one of four contemporary fabrics named after the world’s most prestigious universities.
Oxford cloth is made by interlacing pairs of fine warp yarns with a single slightly heavier weft, resulting in an unbalanced basket weave. The looser structure of the basket weave (compared to a traditional plain weave) makes Oxford less prone to wrinkling, and it is traditionally used in men’s casual shirting. Classic Oxford is often woven with dyed warp yarns and a white weft which further enhances the signature checkerboard pattern and creates a subtle two-colour effect with a faint lustre.
Originally woven by Scottish mills in the late 1800s, Oxford was one of four contemporary fabrics named after the world’s most prestigious universities, which also included Cambridge, Harvard, and Yale. Made with coarser cotton qualities, it was an inexpensive and airy material that later became popular for athletic wear, such as tennis and polo shirts.