This Camp Shirt From One of My All-Time Favorite Brands is Worth Every Penny

Gitman Vintage shirts are made in America with unparalleled quality. Mine have outlasted every other shirt in my closet.

By Brad Lanphear

Published April 4, 2025

·

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

Gitman Vintage is an American shirt company that does things the old-fashioned way.

In this case, that idiom refers to the fabrics used, cutting and sewing techniques, button selection, finishing techniques, cutting patterns, and almost every other step of the shirt-making process.

a navy blue short sleeve camp collar shirt — The Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt is a perfect warm-weather shirt.

Like an alligator, Gitman Vintage–or Gitman Bros., as the company is also known–is a living representative of a long-gone age. It is one of the rare examples of a brand making new products to the standard of much-sought-after mid-century vintage items.

If you have come across Gitman Vintage, chances are it is one of the brand’s vibrant or eccentric pattern shirts. But it also maintains a core collection of simple shirts designed to be worn often and for many years.

the side hem of a cotton shirt — The dobby stripe texture is woven into the fabric.

Along with making probably the best Oxford shirt on the planet, Gitman Vintage makes the best warm-weather button-down shirts money can buy. The best example of the latter is the Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt.

A warm weather workhorse

The Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt has a body fit and, as the title explains, a classic camp collar. Which is defined by a top button secured with a loop extended from the placket instead of a buttonhole.

a white short sleeve camp collar shirt — The Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt in white.

A camp collar shirt is traditionally worn with the top two buttons splayed open, but this is created by how the shirt is pressed or ironed, not how it is cut and sewn. The open neck enhances air circulation and, more importantly, creates a relaxed look.

This was the definitive summer shirt for men in the 1950s and 1960s, and Gitman Vintage maintains the same design from that age. The shoulders are a little boxy and the sleeves are wide. If you prefer a slimmer fit, it is advisable to size down.

a light blue camp collar shirt — The Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt in cobalt.

Gitman Vintage makes an entire collection of the camp collar shirts each year, but an annual staple is the Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe. This fabric is versatile because it is a uniform color, but the texture created by stitching horizontal stripes into the fabric makes it interesting.

There is no pocket, and the shirt has a French placket, which creates a clean front panel and is commonly found on tailored dress shirts and tuxedo shirts. Both details elevate the overall look above common short-sleeve button-down shirts.

They do make up like they used to

American garment manufacturing is hanging on by a thread, but Gitman Vintage is going strong. The company is still headquartered in Pennsylvania, where it was founded in 1978, but it moved manufacturing to Tennessee in 2020.

the back shoulder of a cotton collared shirt — The shoulder yoke of a Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt.

I have owned several Gitman Vintage shirts for over a decade, keeping them in heavy rotation the whole time, and they have held up better than any other collared shirt I’ve owned.

Not only has the fabric, which ranges from flannel to linen in my collection, not deteriorated at all and only slightly faded in some cases, but not a single stitch or button has come loose.

the button and placket of a brown shirt — The button and placket of the Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt.

The elephant in the room is the price. Gitman Vintage shirts start in the $200 range and can go much higher for certain fabrics. But if the price-per-wear is projected out over ten years of continuous wear, it is a better bargain than the $75 shirts I’ve owned and watched deteriorate in a couple of years.

If you’re going to spend $225 on a short-sleeved shirt, it had better be one that can be worn often, for a long time. The Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt is precisely that. It is a go-to shirt that will never disappoint you for decades.

Availability and pricing

The Gitman Vintage Cotton Linen Dobby Stripe Camp Collar Shirt is available from Gitman Vintage for $285. It comes in black, white, green, brown and cobalt white.

However, Huckberry is selling it in navy blue and brown for $225.