You probably have a bunch of button-downs in your closet, but the best flannel shirts for men offer something that few others can match: sheer coziness. No shade to your trusty bengal-stripe poplins and pinpoint Oxfords, but thanks to the buttery softness of its namesake brushed cotton fabric, a great flannel shirt is going to be one of the most comfortable layers you own, and the shirt you reach for more than any other this time of year. Better still, while there are plenty of boxy, oversized flannels ready-made for fall layering, you’ll also find more refined options that’ll look right with your nattiest suits and butteriest loafers. Which means you could actually wear flannel every day of the week if you wanted to. Who, pray tell, wouldn’t want that?
The Best Men’s Flannel Shirts, According to GQ
Take Me To: More Flannel Shirts We Love | How We Review Products | How We Make These Picks | Why Buy a Flannel Shirt in 2024?
Best Flannel Shirt Overall: Wythe Washed Flannel Workshirt
You could spend a lot of time combing vintage stores for the perfect flannel shirt and still not come up with anything as nice as this one. That’s how Wythe New York’s Peter Wythe describes the inspiration for this gem, which is the result of hundreds of hours spent scouring vintage sellers and historical photos for something that would evoke the great flannels made for miners, cowboys, and hippies in the American West. The result features a midweight cotton flannel that’s brushed on both sides for ultimate softness, with triple-needle chain stitching for superlative durability, and custom Corozo nut buttons for an authentic 1940s feel.
Best Budget Flannel Shirt: L.L.Bean Chamois Shirt
When we talk about flannel shirts, we’re usually talking about the colorful plaid variety beloved by ‘90s grunge rockers, suburban dads, and off-grid survivalists alike. As indisputably classic as these tartans are, however, they’re not your only option when it comes to a great flannel shirt. New England outfitter L.L.Bean knows a thing or two about buffalo plaid, but they also understand that some folks might be inclined to reach for something more understated. Hence this absolute unit of a shirt made from heavy-duty chamois in a dark shade of navy that’s a perfect complement to your fall roster of corduroy, denim, and canvas.
Best Flannel Shirt for the Office: Sid Mashburn Spread Collar Sport Shirt
Just because you wear a suit to work instead of jeans and a barn coat doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the soft embrace of flannel all day long. You can thank Sid Mashburn for that revelation, and make this spread collar button-down an essential part of your 9-to-5 wardrobe this season. A version of Mashburn’s signature button-down, it’s chock-full of thoughtful details like trocas shell buttons, a rounded chest pocket, and a barrel cuff with a higher button placement to make room for your watch. Not to be confused with heavier versions that can double as outerwear (Mashburn is from the South, after all) a lightweight Italian flannel makes it thin enough to fit comfortably under a suit coat, blazer, or cardigan.
Best Flannel Shirt for Vintage Fiends: Pendleton Board Shirt
If you’re looking for a flannel with impeccable vintage credibility and zero thrift store mustiness, there’s only one name to know. Pendleton flannels have been woven in the company’s Washington mills for more than a century, and have been worn by some of the most stylish dudes of the last 100 years, including California surfers in the 1960s. Thanks to their blend of easy-wearing comfort and rugged western style, Pendleton’s button-downs acquired a loyal following on beaches from Big Sur to Zuma (including The Beach Boys, originally known as the Pendletones). The Board Shirt channels the laid-back style of that era, with a soft, midweight fabric and a straight cut that’s perfect for layering.
Best Flannel Shirt for Cobain Cosplay: Abercrombie & Fitch ‘90s Oversized Flannel
You won’t get very far in any conversation about the legacy of flannel shirts without mention of Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana frontman who personified Seattle’s grunge scene in the ‘90s and helped to establish its signature DIY look. If you’re after a similar vibe, fellow ‘90s style legend Abercrombie & Fitch has the goods, complete with an array of washed-out colors and a slouchy, oversized fit. This one’ll look right with a wide range of casual staples, but if you really want to nail the Cobain look, layer it over your artsiest white tee with a pair of shredded jeans, bashed-up Chuck Taylors, and bug-eyed sunglasses.
The Best Flannel Shirt for Fashion Guys: Bottega Veneta Lightweight Wool Flannel Button-Up Shirt
For those who only know this Italian fashion house for its sumptuous woven leather accessories, welcome to the party. This covetable button-down, courtesy of designer Matthieu Blazy, follows the themes of Bottega’s Winter ‘24 drop in its combination of lush Italian fabrics in earthy grays, greens, and browns and its breezy minimalist silhouettes. With buttons hidden behind a large placket and Bottega’s triangle motif subtly added to the pocket and the yolk, it blends Italian futurism with quiet luxury, particularly when paired with the matching flannel trousers. On its own, though, it’s a statement piece that’ll set off a pair of wide black pants and chunky loafers like nobody’s business.
More Flannel Shirts We Love
Buck Mason Pacific Twill One Pocket Shirt
Portuguese Flannel Arc Checked Cotton-Flannel Shirt
Beams Plus Checked Cotton-Flannel Shirt
Warehouse Flannel Shirt
Needles Flannel 7 Cuts Shirt
Thom Browne Check Cotton Flannel Button-Down Shirt
Drake’s Check Slub Cotton Button-Up Work Shirt
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
Why Buy a Flannel Shirt Today, In the year of Our Lord 2024?
Flannel shirts aren’t exactly a secret, of course. As a go-to for generations of ranchers, loggers, and other hardworking dudes across the American West in the first half of the 20th century, the flannel shirt earned its place in the canon of great American workwear alongside denim dungarees and engineer boots. The romance of those early days is still a big part of the flannel shirt’s appeal, and combined with endorsements from surfers, skaters, punks, streetwear kids, and a bunch of other impeccably turned-out subcultures in subsequent decades, its allure has only grown.
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