Though its history goes back to 17th century Wales, few generations were as excited about it as Gen X’s grunge fans, and lo’ the legions of fashion watchers in the cold and snowy climates rejoiced.  Finally, they could be fashionable and warm!

The flannel that we’re familiar with today originated in the Midwest.  One such city in Michigan, Cedar Springs, is regarded as the Red Flannel Capital of the World.  Legend has it, toward the end of the Great Depression, harsh winters led to a New York newspaper columnist to write about a “shortage of red flannels” to keep the people warm.  Some of local papers in Western Michigan caught wind of this lack of red flannels and knew it wasn’t the case, as local lumberjacks were picking up the red flannel undergarments daily, and production wasn’t even close to maxed out.  They responded to the New York writer with an editorial espousing the glories of Cedar Springs’ red flannel and before anyone knew it, national newspapers began running the story and the orders came flooding in.  This red flannel boon gave cause for little ol’ Cedar Springs to celebrate and within a few years, they had “Red Flannel Day,” complete with a festival and a parade in honor of the one and only red flannel.

Now, red flannel isn’t the only kind that’s out there.  Flannel was originally made from carded wool, but is now made up of a combination of ingredients, including wool, cotton and synthetic fibers.  Sometimes flannel is used to describe clothing, sheets and what-not made up of 100% cotton fabric. 

Before flannel became cool to wear, lumberjacks and assorted mountain men were already on the scene with this trend.  But, of course, cold weather beats out fashion… most days.  Back then, few people referred to it as flannel (with the exception of the aforementioned red flannel); they called them lumberjack shirts.  Lumberjack shirts were the uniform of TV heroes, such as Davy Crocket and Daniel Boone.  They were easy to maintain and ready for adventure.  Pendleton Woolen Mills made the famed flannels of the 50s.  Brightly colored, they started showing up on the backs of beats and greasers, giving the flannel shirt its first steps into the counterculture. 

Once the beats were done with the flannel, it took a back seat to the natural styles of the late 60s and glitzy glam of the70s and 80s, only peeking out once in a while with the punks and other restless subverts.  As time went on, the material of the shirts got lighter and their purpose moved from function to fashion, and with that flannels began making appearances in the late in warmer climates.  Cotton was used, rather than thick and heavy wool; prints and patterns, particularly plaid, started making their way onto store shelves, prepping the way for the era to come: grunge.

Flannel was essential if you were going to be grungy at all.  Sure, the unwashed hair helped, but the flannel could take you a long way, fashion-wise.  The grunge music scene came primarily from America’s Northwest, an area already familiar with the warmth and necessity of flannel shirts.  The idea behind grunge was that you didn’t really try, at least in the beginning, and for bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden, picking up some flannel at the thrift store was the easiest (and cheapest) thing to do.  During the 1990s, flannel even extended itself beyond the rockin’ edge of grunge and into the hip-hop scene.  Flannel could be found covering West Coast gangsta rappers as a sort of anti-fashion statement, a shout out against the status quo.

The adolescents of the 90s eventually grew up, got jobs and donated their flannels (well, except for that one), and so went the glory days of the flannel shirt.  Today, flannel shirts are more commonly associated with slackers, or at least an easy day at home; a far cry from the lumberjacks of yore.