Product Review: Flannel Shirt From Vermont Flannel Company
I am sitting in my home office writing this article while staring outside at the roughly 30 inches of snow we got over the weekend.
Anyone who lives in an area of the country that gets even a small amount of snow (or cold weather) knows that an indispensable wardrobe item is a classic flannel shirt.
This isn’t news. Many of you probably already have multiple such shirts already in your closet. I know I do.
One of the first articles I posted to this site was a review and comparison of two titans in the flannel shirt space: Lands’ End’s Flagship Flannel and L.L. Bean’s Organic Flannel (which I don’t think they offer this season, surprisingly). All of my other product reviews can be found here.
Almost every clothing company has their own version of a flannel shirt. My favorites are the aforementioned selections from Lands’ End and L.L. Bean, as well as the Oxbow Bend flannels from Woolrich, of which I have two, and the subject of today’s article, which is a grey flannel shirt from Vermont Flannel Company.
I am from New York originally and now live in a very rural part of the northeast. Companies like L.L. Bean, Carhartt, and Vermont Flannel are widely represented here.
Even though I own many flannels already, I could always use one more. I love my tailoring, but a good flannel shirt is a beautiful thing.
This particular shirt was a gift from my wife last year.
The first thing that struck me was the color. I have a ton of flannel shirts and they are all plaid. This one is a dark grey, which is a nice shift from the usual tartan pattern of most other flannels. Even though the shirt is decidedly casual, the solid color looks a little more put-together, especially when on a Zoom/Teams call.
The weight is another great aspect of this shirt. It’s noticeably heavier than my Lands’ End Flagship Flannels. I would say it’s similar in weight to the L.L. Bean Organic Flannel. That one, though is a little fuzzier to the touch. This Vermont Flannel feels almost like it was felted. In other words, it’s dense, which I like. I find that it helps block the wind and insulates my body well.
From a casual observer’s perspective, probably the most eye-catching feature of the shirt is the collar. This is a man’s collar! The points are quite long, which means that turning the collar up (“popping” it, for all you Millennials out there) provides a great deal of protection against the elements.
As far as the overall fit, I really couldn’t be happier with it. I stand six-feet-tall and weight roughly 195 pounds and a large fits me perfectly. You can see that the sleeve seams sit perfectly on my shoulders, the cuffs sit right at my wrists, and the length of the shirt is perfect: long enough to tuck but not too long that it looks sloppy when untucked.
On the topic of tucking (of which I am a proponent) there is one thing I should mention. Near the hem of the shirt is a “Vermont Flannel Company” tag which is rather prominent. It’s large and quite stiff and can sometimes be felt along the beltline when the shirt is tucked in.
It’s not a big deal, but definitely something I noticed and thought would be helpful for you to know.
While I really enjoy this shirt, the price is a little steep. It’s selling for $88 at the moment on the Vermont Flannel Company website. I think this makes it the most expensive flannel shirt I own.
Is it worth it? Honestly, I think it is.
Vermont Flannel Company does so many things well with this shirt (including being “hand cut and sewn in the USA”, if that matters to you). If I needed to buy a few then I would probably opt for something like Lands’ End, as their flannels can be had for peanuts. But this is a higher quality shirt and the price reflects that.
I also give this shirt the edge over my L.L. Bean Organic Flannel, as the fit of this shirt is better. The sleeves are longer and the body is roomier, without being billowy as so many things from L.L. Bean tend to be.
All in all, I am impressed with this shirt and would recommend it for anyone looking for a sturdy, cold-weather layering piece.
