The Ruth, and what an oversized shirt is for
Oversized is a pattern decision made at the shoulder. The seam drops past your actual shoulder, the body is cut wide through the chest and rib, and the sleeve is set into a larger armhole, so the shirt hangs from the collar. Done well it holds a defined line at the neck and falls straight from there.
The Ruth Oversized Shirt is drafted that way. It has a single chest pocket, shell buttons and a shirt-tail hem that curves up at the side seam, so it can be worn out over a jean without cutting across the hip. Volume above a rigid jean is a proportion decision, and it is the reason this shirt exists in a denim brand's line. Six of the eleven pieces on this page are a Ruth in one form or another, and the rest of the women's jeans collection is what it was cut against.
Cropped and full length in the same shirt
A crop answers a high waist. Shortening the same shirt moves the hem to the narrowest part of your torso, so a high rise shows its full length from the waistband down and the shirt stops competing with it.
The Ruth Crop Shirt is that shortening, in cotton poplin, offered in wisteria, thistle, white and black. It keeps the chest pocket and the shell buttons and loses the shirt-tail curve, finishing straight so the hem sits level over a waistband. The Abigail Shirt does the same thing in denim, with contrast topstitching and a back pleat split that gives the shoulders room the cropped length would otherwise take away. Both work hardest over high rise jeans, where the crop and the rise meet at your natural waist.
The two denim shirts
Two pieces here are cut in denim. The Denim Ruth Oversized Shirt is the full-length version, with a shadow chest pocket stitched into the panel so the front stays clean, and a shirt-tail hem. The Abigail Shirt is the cropped one, tailored closer through the body with the topstitching left visible against a pale ground.
Wearing either with jeans comes down to the distance between the two blues. Put a clear gap between the depth of the shirt and the depth of the jean and the outfit holds its shape; bring them close together and the two pieces flatten into a single block of color. The Denim Ruth sits in a medium wash, so it goes over a dark indigo or a white jean, and it leaves your medium wash jeans to a shirt at either end of the range.
Cotton, poplin and the rest of the grid
Poplin is a tight plain weave with a smooth, slightly crisp surface. It holds a collar upright and takes a press, which is why the Ruth Crop Shirt is cut in it. One colorway is stonewashed, softening the hand without losing the structure.
That accounts for six of the eleven, and the Abigail makes seven. The last four are the Tessa Top in vintage black and tide, a woven with wide sleeves and subtle shirring; the Carolyn Top, a button-down in 100% pima jersey that behaves like a knit and closes like a shirt; and the Marlowe Sweater, a ribbed cotton vest with a button front and patch pockets. Underneath all of it sit the cotton tees and the tank tops.
