Comparison: OCBD battle – Uniqlo vs Charles Tyrwhitt

(Left) Uniqlo, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt

The Oxford Cloth Button Down shirt (OCBD) shouldn’t be a stranger to most guy’s wardrobes. It’s a versatile shirt that can be dressed up/down depending on the occasion and outfit you put together. I’ve got a few blue and white OCBD’s that I keep on rotation since they’re hard wearing and easy to style.

Being in Australia, some clothing choices can be limited due to a number of factors. Recommendations are usually for American based companies that either don’t ship to Australia or are costly because of shipping and poor exchange rates. That being said, if you’ve got any good recommendations in Australia or otherwise, definitely let me know.

I’ve been using Uniqlo and Charles Tyrwhitt OCBD’s for years now and have just bought a couple shirts from them to throw into my rotation and thought it would be a good time to compare them.

(Left) Uniqlo, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt

*Here comes a new challenger*

While writing this comparison up, I got an OCBD from Everlane as well, thought I’d throw it in here too. I quickly took some photos of the shirt (scroll to the bottom for those photos), but this was after taking photos of the Uniqlo and Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts.

The Specs

	Uniqlo	Charles Tyrwhitt	Everlane
Price	$40AUD	$79AUD	$99AUD
Material	100% Cotton	100% Cotton	100% Cotton
Made in	Vietnam	Vietnam	Vietnam
Shoulders	18.25″	18.25″	18.25″
Size	M (Slim)	M (Slim)	M (Slim)
Pleats	None	2 (left & right)	1 (centre)
Pit to Pit	20.5″	21″	22″
Slimmest Width	19.75″	20″	20.5″
Sleeve Length	26.5″	25″	25.5″
Body Length	32.25″	30.75″	31″
Collar Length	2.6″	2.6″	2.3″

(Left) Uniqlo Front, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt Front

(Left) Uniqlo Back, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt Back

The Look

All of them look and fit very similarly being medium slim fit shirts. Have a look at the measurements, but you’ll see a pattern in them. Shoulders essentially the same, Uniqlo is the slimmest in the body of the bunch and all of them can be tucked without any issue.

I would like to note that none of these have that desirably long 3″ collar length for a nice collar roll, but for normies like me, it’s fine.

The sleeve length on the Uniqlo shirt is noticeable on me and I could probably get all of the OCBD’s sleeves shortened, but I probably won’t. I’d like to get a shirt made at some stage, again, open to suggestions.

Oh also, the last buttonhole on the Uniqlo OCBD is horizontal, I noticed this only when taking photos, apparently it’s to reduce the stress on the last button and help prevent it from popping open. Cool.

(Left) Uniqlo collar, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt collar

(Left) Uniqlo sleeve, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt sleeve

(Left) Uniqlo horizontal buttonhole, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt vertical buttonhole

The Feel

All of these are made of 100% cotton in Vietnam. Construction seems to be similar, not bad and not great. There’s a few stray flyaways but at this price point, I don’t really expect too much. The seams appear to be stronger/thicker on the Charles Tyrwhitt shirt, but this could be because the material used.

The cloth on the Uniqlo and Everlane shirts are about the same thickness, again the Charles Tyrwhitt shirt is definitely thicker and noticeable to the touch. It probably keeps me slightly warmer, or that could be in my head. But it may be something you want to keep in mind.

(Left) Uniqlo material macro, (Right) Charles Tyrwhitt material macro

Are they Affordable?

Yeah, definitely. Especially on sale, I got both the Uniqlo and Charles Tyrwhitt OCBD’s for around $30-$35 AUD. Bargain.

With Everlane, I probably would only buy them if I wanted a particular colour or pattern. It’s more expensive and quality seems to be about on par with the other two.

For the basic coloured OCBDs, I’ll just grab what I need from Uniqlo or Charles Tyrwhitt when they’re on sale. But again, totally open to suggestions.