- This article is about a fabric; for other uses see Flannel (disambiguation).
Flannel a warm fabric of various degrees of weight and fineness, usually made from loosely spun yarn.
Flannel is a light-to-medium weight woven cloth commonly used to make clothing and bedsheets. It was originally made from carded wool, but is now often made from either wool and cotton, or wool and synthetic fibre.
The term "flannel" is also often used to refer directly to the clothing created from flannelette. Today, many so-called flannels are made with a large mixture of cotton or synthetic fibres. These are, in some countries called flannelettes. In fact, in some countries (e.g. the United Kingdom), it is illegal to sell flannelettes under the name 'flannel'.
In the United States, the terminology is slightly different. The term 'flannelette' is not used, and 'flannel' frequently refers to 100% cotton fabrics. It is also unusual to use the term to refer directly to a garment.
Flannel and flannelette can be woven in either a tight twill weave or a plain weave, although this is often obscured by napping one or both sides. After weaving, it is napped once, then bleached, dyed, or otherwise treated, and then napped a second time.
History
Flannel was a well-known product of Wales. It has been made since the 17th century, having gradually replaced, as the local textile product, the older Welsh plains, some of which were finished as 'cottons' or friezes. In the 19th century, it was made, particularly Montgomeryshire in towns such as Newtown, Montgomeryshire[1], Hay on Wye,[2] and Llanidloes[3] The expansion of its production is closely associated with the spread of carding mills, which prepared the wool for spinning, this being the first aspect of the production of woollen cloth to be mechanised (apart from fulling). The marketting of these Welsh woollen clothes was largely controlled by the Drapers Company of Shrewsbury.[4]
The origin of the word is uncertain, but a Welsh origin has been suggested. The French form fianelle was used late in the 17th century, and the German Flanell early in the 18th century.
Baize, a kind of coarse flannel with a long nap, is said to have been first introduced to England about the middle of the 16th century by refugees from France and the Netherlands.
Derivative uses of the word
- Flannels (q.v.) are cricket attire, originally made of flannel, though now often of other cloth.
- In the United Kingdom and New Zealand, a flannel refers to a facecloth or washcloth, presumably having originally been made of flannel cloth.
- In colloquial British English, to flannel is to not answer a question. It is also used in the publishing industry to denote copy of low interest such as the flannel panel, which outlines who does what on a magazine.
Flannel in Pop Culture
In North America, flannelette, commonly referred to as flannel, was commonly thought to be the fabric of woodsmen, lumberjacks, tough men and farmers. Today it is commonly used for children's winter pajamas as well as pajama pants for adults.
In the US, due to the fact that many people in the Pacific Northwest (especially in Seattle, Washington) and Vancouver, British Columbia have had a tendency to wear it, flannel there has become associated with grungers and music. This idea was even further popularized by the fact that many rock, metal and, most notably, grunge musicians from the early 1990s often wore clothing made from it. In addition, flannel also became associated with West Coast gangsta rap for much of the 1990s. Flannel has been thought by some to be a fashion statement (or in some cases an anti-fashion statement), and has been more broadly associated with slackers.
Well-Known Flannel Wearers
- Filmmaker George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars saga.
- Jason Lee's character Earl J. Hickey from the hit US comedy My Name Is Earl
- The character Al Borland, from the TV series Home Improvement
- The character Alex Mack, from the TV series The Secret World Of Alex Mack.
- Neil Young, guitar player, singer and songwriter
- Lead singer and guitarist from Nirvana, Kurt Cobain
- Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam
- Mick Foley in the persona of Cactus Jack, a WWF/WWE hardcore wrestler who wears red flannel as part as ring attire
- Comic strip character Jeremy Duncan of Zits by Jerry Scott (writer) and Jim Borgman (artist)
- Rory Gallagher, the Irish-born blues guitarist.
- Duane Allman, guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band.
- Mike Watt, bassist for The Minutemen, Firehose, The Stooges, and various other bands.
- Flannel, legendary internet troll, formerly with Yahoo, and currently with cindysbeentrippin.com
References
- ^ http://www.newtown.org.uk/history.htm Newtown History
- ^ http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/histland/midwye/mwindust.htm
- ^ Llanidloes History
- ^ A. H. Dodd, Industrial Revolution in North Wales (1931), 229-81; J. Geraint Jenkins, The Welsh Woollen Industry (Cardiff 1969); J. Geraint Jenkins, 'The woollen industry in Montgomeryshire' Montgomeryshrie Collections 58 (1963), 50-69.