Actually quite impressed by Brooks Brothers OCBD's

Wow, with all the threads about Brooks Brother's failing quality, I'm f'ing ecstatic with my recent purchase of my "all cotton" slim fit OCBD's. I even lucked out and got my size right in the neck and sleeves to account for some old fashioned shrinkage since they are going to see the dryer.

But what really has me excited is that I all but swore off OCBD's after trying them out in high school and early college. I bought a bunch of regular fit (I hadn't even heard of "slim fit" since this was pre SF) Ralph Lauren OCBD's (white, blue, pink etc) and wore them but soon grew tired of the boxy fit and the large multi colored logo (doesn't bother me for casual wear, but I think it looks tacky when I wear a tie with a logoed shirt). Overall, I hated the fit, didn't like the logo on a "dress shirt" and thought they made me look too much like an old man (sorry older guys )

But these fit much better. I'm thinking that I might have to upgrade to blue/ blue candystripe OCBD's as my go to casual and business casual shirt (sorry foof )

Just thought you wanted to know this.

Now, about those Black Fleece OCBD's again ...

I've been consistently pleased with my BB OCBD shirts.

Are you referring to Black Fleece OCBDs or the regular ones?The regular slim fits are still too big for me,I prefer Black Fleece,they are very good. (when they have soft cuffs)

I bought a Black Fleece OCBD during the FF sale. It is a lovely shirt. The BF fits very nicely into my rotation of blue OCBDs. There is the Truzzi OCBD for the upscale times, the RL washed OCBD (one can find them w/o logos) for times of slumming, and the Black Fleece sits in between with its air of work.

It is a uniform with variations significant enough for me to know and others not to. The variation in look for basically the same shirt is interesting- swap in the RL and I'm a bedraggled scholar, swap in the BF and I'm upright, swap in the Truzzi and I'm just playing at being scholar: my real life is not of the mind but of the society.

All from the most boring of shirts: the blue OCBD.

I am wearing a new BB non-iron slim fit BD dress shirt I bought during the recent sale. The fit is pretty good for me, but the fabric is a bit rough, especially compared to the comparable Lands' End pin point oxford, which is silky and still non-iron. I am a bit disapointed, although the shirt looks nice. It is a tiny blue hounds tooth. If LE offered more colors and styles in tailored no-iron, I would prefer that to the BBs.

I am getting some sports shirt versions of the BB in the mail, we will see if they are a bit softer.

Is the OCBD you are referring to the non-iron pinpoint, luxury or something else? Thanks.

but the BF shirts come in only one arm length for each size, right? my arms are too long for the size that fits my neck.

or do you get them custom?

Originally Posted by Kei-bon

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but the BF shirts come in only one arm length for each size, right? my arms are too long for the size that fits my neck. or do you get them custom?
BF sleeves are too short for me, too, although I really like the way the shirts fit. I now buy the BB slim fit from their select special order program so that I can get the 36 inch sleeve length that I need. They aren't quite as slim as BF, but they are fine for wearing to work.

Originally Posted by De Gustibus

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I am wearing a new BB non-iron slim fit BD dress shirt I bought during the recent sale. The fit is pretty good for me, but the fabric is a bit rough, especially compared to the comparable Lands' End pin point oxford, which is silky and still non-iron. I am a bit disapointed, although the shirt looks nice. It is a tiny blue hounds tooth. If LE offered more colors and styles in tailored no-iron, I would prefer that to the BBs.

I am getting some sports shirt versions of the BB in the mail, we will see if they are a bit softer.

Is the OCBD you are referring to the non-iron pinpoint, luxury or something else? Thanks.

OCBD refers specifically to oxford cloth buttondowns. You are referring to other types of shirts.

I would like them more if they came in a Milano fit. Black Fleece is too expensive. Lands' End Hyde Park Tailored Fit would be perfect if it came in more than two colors.

Originally Posted by Kei-bon

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but the BF shirts come in only one arm length for each size, right? my arms are too long for the size that fits my neck.

I endlessly have to get sleeves shortened on my shirts. I have to assume that the population norm used by shirt designers resembles that of gorillas. The BF 2 is perfect. Thats good news for me, but bad news perhaps for those with longer arms.

i'm pretty happy with the standard BB slim fit. i wish it came in more colors/patterns (i think they stock only lt blue, white, and grey stripe), and i wish the arms were a little less billowy. then of course there's all the talk on SF about the unique collar roll of the BF OCBD ... but i'm not such a connoisseur--yet.

Originally Posted by De Gustibus

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I am wearing a new BB non-iron slim fit BD dress shirt I bought during the recent sale. The fit is pretty good for me, but the fabric is a bit rough, especially compared to the comparable Lands' End pin point oxford, which is silky and still non-iron. I am a bit disapointed, although the shirt looks nice. It is a tiny blue hounds tooth. If LE offered more colors and styles in tailored no-iron, I would prefer that to the BBs.

I am getting some sports shirt versions of the BB in the mail, we will see if they are a bit softer.

Is the OCBD you are referring to the non-iron pinpoint, luxury or something else? Thanks.

I specifically wanted the NON non iron, if that makes any sense. I felt the difference between the two, and you are right, I thought the non iron felt too stiff, etc. So these are the ones that have not been treated with chemical (I would imagine this is how they do this). Pretty nice fabric.

Originally Posted by james_timothy

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...the RL washed OCBD (one can find them w/o logos)

Where? Purple Label?

I'm 50/50 on the BF OCBD - I got one in BB5 thinking that even though I generally wear 16.5, the BB4 would be too damn tight and/or short on me. The BB5 is okay, but the collar is, as expected, a bit loose and there's actually some tightness across the shoulders for me as well, which constricts my movement a bit. In terms of soft cotton though, it can't be beat.

Perhaps for my next OCBD, I'll try one of the regular slim fit BB ones.

Originally Posted by forex

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Are you referring to Black Fleece OCBDs or the regular ones?The regular slim fits are still too big for me,I prefer Black Fleece,they are very good. (when they have soft cuffs)

Standard "all suprima cotton" slim fit. Not Black Fleece. I missed out on the Black fleece's the first time around but I will keep my eyes peeled. If those are really a lot nicer than the these, I will definitely have to try.

But I didn't mind that they were around $40 after the friends and family discount. Random question: Last time when the Black Fleece's went to $75 on sale, did they allow you to use the corporate discount on top of that?