3Sixteen Utility Flannel

Nobody makes a lilac flannel. Flannel is a category that has settled into red, green, navy, and black check, and a faded, chalky lilac sits so far outside that vocabulary that the first reaction to it is that it must be a womenswear piece filed wrong. It is not. It is a proper heavy work shirt in a colour arrived at by washing rather than by dyeing: the cloth is custom woven, cut, sewn, and only then put through a single wash, which softens the nap and pulls the colour down to something that looks like it has spent a decade in sunlight before it has spent a day in it.

The other thing to know is that this is the roomier of the house’s two work shirts. Where the Crosscut is drawn close and carries the crossed back yoke, the Utility is boxier through the body with a straight yoke, larger chest pockets, and a vintage cut. It is the shirt to reach for if you wear a flannel open over a tee rather than buttoned.

Why we selected it

We took this one for the colour, which is not a reason we give often and is the honest one here. A soft warm lilac against indigo is one of the better things a person can do with a denim wardrobe and almost nobody offers it. The construction happens to be as serious as the rest of the line, which is what made it possible to buy on a colour without regretting it.

3Sixteen makes two work shirts and this is the plainer, roomier one, without the crossed yoke that marks the other.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent brushed cotton flannel, custom woven, then washed once after making. Made in India. Faded lilac. Two chest pockets with button closures, straight back yoke, single-button cuffs and sleeve plackets, double-needle chainstitch construction, and corozo fisheye buttons.

Fit notes

Boxy and vintage in cut, wider through the chest and shorter in the body than a modern shirt, and designed to be worn open as often as closed. Because it is washed after making there is little to no shrinkage left in it, so take your usual size and expect it to stay there. Brushed flannel softens further over the first season and then holds.

Styling

Open over the black Pima tee with raw denim, which is the outfit. Under the Liner Jacket when it turns. Lilac against olive is better than it has any right to be, so the Cargo Pant is worth trying. Against charcoal and black it reads almost grey, which is the quiet way to wear it.

Care

Machine wash cool, inside out, and hang to dry. Heat is what kills a brushed flannel: it flattens the nap that makes the cloth soft and it will take this colour down further than it should go. Our care guidance covers cotton.

Related pieces

The house’s crossed-yoke work shirt is the Crosscut Flannel in Coyote Slub Check, and it runs in Cream/Black as well. It goes with the Cargo Pant, under the Liner Jacket, and over the Pima Cotton T-Shirt Pack in Black. Everything we currently hold from 3Sixteen is listed together.