Tested Prep

“I feel like I’ve been auditioning my whole career for this,” says Michael Bastian of his new job as creative director for Brooks Brothers, the 203-year-old stalwart of American prep school style. Indeed, with his eponymous label, launched in 2006, Bastian often seemed to be riffing on a sleeker, sexier, more adventurous version of the Brooks Brothers world. No surprise, then, that his first order of business was to rework the mothership’s most iconic and beloved piece, the Oxford-cloth button-down shirt.

With its just-under US$90 price tag, you can spend more on socks from some labels, but the appeal of the brand’s OCBD, as the style is known in menswear circles, is authenticity, since Brooks Brothers invented the category.

That’s a lot of history to draw from, but Bastian’s version is a casual revolution of precise details: heavier fabric, a shorter, roomy fit with a wider sleeve, and a collar roll that’s somehow more elegant despite the shape remaining unchanged. (The secret, Bastian confides, is collar-button placement. “If you don’t get it exactly right, you won’t get that perfect curve, like a violin.”) The chest pocket is back and the cuff shirring stays while the various fits and dress-shirt sizing are gone – a single model now comes in S, M, L, etc. – though there’s good news for obsessives who want the updated look, but cut just for them. “Custom shirting,” Bastian says,“is coming soon.”