Grey flannel trousers

grey flannel trousers

Grey flannel trousers

No wonder a pair of grey flannel trousers is a winter classic. It has a winter look because of fluffy texture of the flannel, it is warm, it keeps its shape, it is very often soft (Italian wools are usually a bit softer than English) though at the same time not as durable as worsted wool.

They however work well with literally every type of jacket, every texture and colour, most of the patterns. Grey flannel comes in different weight as well. 8oz/m is rather light and can be worn all year, apart maybe from very warm months. Unless it is very cold on the other hand I find this weight to be ideal. Winter in the north of Europe for example can be quite cold so maybe 10 or even 12oz weight would be better.

Jeans, we all love them for comfort and versatility. They are not however smart enough to be worn to the office. Worsted wools are too smart for casual blazers and sport coats and look way off with textured fabrics. Flannel is perfectly balanced between smart and casual. You can tweak them by having them made more casual, i.e. with turn ups and pleats or smarter with single pleat, no belt loops and no turn ups. I went for the latter. It is not my first pair of grey flannel trousers though. I keep experimenting with cut and details so this time, the biggest difference is in high rise. As you can see at the photo below, the waist is almost as high as the buttoning point of the jacket. Well, not as high yet but these are the highest I have ever worn. They really sit on the hips all the time. As of details I ordered quite extended buttoning – to the right, side adjusters and one pocket in the back. Front is closed with buttons and there is a single forward facing pleat. No real preference here yet, still experimenting though the last few pairs all had forward pleats.grey flannel trousers

They have been made as made-to-measure by Luxire, the online mtm service, of Vitale Barberis Canonico Light Grey flannel – 9oz/270g fabric woven in Italy. Very light indeed and very soft. This is why I really like Italian flannel. Because I ordered them without any lining I needed them to be soft against the skin on thighs. Thinking about it now I should have increased the thigh dimension a little bit but that is the route to perfection that you have to take when measuring yourself.

We took the photos back in September when it was still warm and I was wearing the cotton-linen mix shirt.

As you can see I paired the grey flannel trousers with navy sport coat – very classic look. It has a patch pockets, soft spalla camicia shoulders and light construction. That is the Suitsupply Hudson model.navy jacket

Shoes, quite important in relation to trousers. I can’t tell how well in my opinion suede shoes work with flannel trousers. Maybe it is the texture that matches the fluffy appearance of the flannel. That must be the biggest factor. Pebble/scotch grain leather would be also very appropriate.

Blue shirt with white stripes has been paired with striped tie from Berg & Berg. This is a Swedish brand that offers menswear accessories and clothing. It has been launched back in 2009 so relatively not long ago. Most of the products are made in Italy and offer amazing value for money. They offer beautiful collections of ties for less than 70euro. Latest winter collection is absolutely fantastic and offers printed wool ties – you can’t find them in too many places! So I will be definitely writing about the brand again soon. Let me know what you think about the shirt and tie combo? Do you like to combine stripes with stripes? Is it not too much for you?

Photography by Adam Priscak from Studio London.

grey flannel trousersforward pleated trousersforward pleatsgrey flannel trousersberg & berg tieberg & berg tie