- Men
- Shirts
Flannel Shirts for Men
The flannel shirt is the garment we think about if we are thinking of autumn. Flannel is actually not a fabric, but a finish. Flannel has a ruffed surface that gives a soft feel, almost like a blanket. Feel free to wear the flannel shirt with a pair of darker denim for a casual style, or with a pair of finer trousers and loafers when you want to look more proper.
What is flannel?
There are many ways to create flannel fabric, as we said it is not a fabric but a finish. Therefore, you can create flannel form both cotton and wool. If it is going to be “real” flannel it should be made of merino wool. The material is processed and combed so that all the fibers are mixed. It is this process that makes flannel so soft and gives it that blanket-feel. On really fine flannel, both right and wrong sides have been carded.
If you use wool, it can also be spun in such a way that only the longest fibers are used. This increases the wear resistance, but it makes the blanket-like feeling less soft, and therefore you have to process the surface afterwards to achieve the feeling that we associate with flannel.
The history of flannel
The name flannel is said to come from the Welsh word for wool, gwalen. It is believed that the fabric originates from Great Britain, but the historians are not entirely certain as flannel also occur early in France. However, they usually say that the British weaving mill Fox Brothers is the origin of the flannel fabric, they are the ones who put flannel on the map. They started in 1772 and during their heyday they had 5,000 employees. They pioneered not only through the flannel but also as employers and gave their workers influence in the company and pension. During both the First and Second World Wars, large parts of their activities consisted of weaving cloth for the military.
In other words, flannel has been around for a long time, but it had its big breakthrough in the 1930s, and were then used for sportier and more casual garments. When playing cricket, it was off-white flannel pants that was the thing to wear. Nowadays, flannel can be worn both for more casual occasions as well as more formal contexts.
Area of use
Today you will find the flannel fabric in all kinds of garments. The most common, however, are in trousers and shirts as you can find at Stenströms. It is a material that is mainly used in the autumn and winter, which is interesting as it was originally used in the summer.
The flannel shirt is a very useful garment. The classic checked flannel shirt is perfect to wear with a pair of jeans, and the solid shirt in a slightly lighter color is nice to wear with a pair of nice trousers and fine shoes for the office or the finer dinner. The flannel shirt is clearly part of the basic wardrobe.