Flannel Shirt

Both a sturdy staple and an ever-reborn product of cyclical fashion, flannel isn’t exclusive to weekend wear; it can also be sophisticated. The checks, the uniform solids; whatever your style, there’s a men’s flannel shirt in our new collection, waiting to be buttoned up and layered.

A Brief History of Flannel

Flannel is more than just a shirt with a plaid pattern. It’s a fabric with a long history dating back hundreds of years.

The Welsh invented flannel as an alternative for traditional plain wool clothing in the 17th century. The fabric, which was made of worsted yarn that was napped on one or both sides and sourced from the country’s numerous herds of sheep, provided much better protection against the Welsh’s notoriously wet and windy winters; it’s unclear who named it, but the French called it flanelle and the Germans called it Flanell.

Flannel soon became popular across Europe thanks to its durability, affordability, and warmth. Wool factories sprang up throughout England and France in the 19th century, thanks to the more effective mechanical “carding” method used by mills across the country during the Industrial Revolution. Hamilton Carhartt, an American entrepreneur who saw a need to improve the working man’s uniform in the United States, built a factory in Detroit, Michigan, in 1889 and began creating robust flannel clothes.

The fabled giant Paul Bunyan, dressed in a red plaid flannel shirt, enchanted the American public. Workmen, particularly loggers, and their children were impressed by his wild tales and heroism. The flannel shirt became a symbol for rough men at the turn of the twentieth century, probably because of its link with construction and frontiersmen.

After the war, flannel demonstrated that it wasn’t just for undershirts, work clothing, and beds; it could also be elegant. Gray flannel suits were the standard for almost all business people in the 1950s.

Flannel resurfaced with a vengeance as part of the grunge music phenomenon in the early 1990s. The anti-conformity ethos was symbolized by the shirts that united America’s working class in the 1950s. Bands from the Pacific Northwest, such as Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam, used sloppy plaid flannels that were cheap and intended for comfort, the polar opposite of the tidy grey flannel suit of the 1950s.

Flannel has been synonymous with outdoor attire in recent years. Lighter kinds of cotton and more affordable synthetic fabrics have replaced the once rugged plaid shirts. Plaid flannel has also recently transitioned to high fashion.

Laidback Essentials With Long-Lasting Toughness & Comfort

While certain shirts can be worn year-round, no shirt exemplifies the rugged and fancy winter style quite like a flannel shirt. The durability and versatility of a flannel shirt are undeniable. It is exceptionally reliable in colder settings yet handsome enough to wear to the office 5 days a week.

Pair it with a nice jacket, your favourite worn-in denim (or chino) and chukka boots and be prepared to turn a few heads – or – wear it exactly how you please as our flannel shirts can handle anything you throw at them. Book your personal stylist from the nearest Surmesur showroom to find the kind of men’s flannel shirt that stands out from the crowd, is well-crafted and easy to wear no matter the situation!