Oxford Cloth

Oxford cloth uses a 2×1 or 2×2 basket weave in which two warp threads interlace together with one or two weft threads, creating the characteristic visible grain that distinguishes it from poplin. The resulting texture is softer and more forgiving to the touch than a plain-weave shirting fabric, and the weave structure introduces a small amount of surface elasticity that makes oxford cloth less prone to sharp wrinkles. The most common shirting oxford uses 2-ply combed cotton yarns in white warp with a colored weft to produce the heathered "college oxford" effect. Pinpoint oxford, a finer variant, uses single-ply yarns at higher thread counts for a smoother surface approaching poplin without sacrificing the characteristic hand.