The Faintest of Flannel Checks

Spring may be springing but this is the season to worry about tailored clothing for fall, as I was reminded when Davies & Son's Peter Harvey brought a checked flannel suit to San Francisco for fitting. One of the early offerings from Michael Alden's Cloth Club on The London Lounge, the cloth for this suit sat in a closet for several years until the gray flannel in my active rotation began showing signs of wear.

As checks go, this one is about as faint as they get (the visible white on the jacket is basting thread that will be removed). The light blue and cream overcheck is barely noticeable even when the photograph is enlarged, or, in life, in bright sunlight. And since it is replacing a solid gray, faint is a good thing.

Flannel is the best of the cold weather suitings to my way of thinking, but since the woolen stuff cannot be woven in lighter weights the selection is suffering from the market's tendency toward year-round cloth. There are flannel stripes and solids aplenty in the cloth books but I know of only one stock checked flannel that differs from the usual shepherd's and glen checks, that being Fox Brothers's 370/400 gram (13/14 ounce) mid-gray with a cream windowpane (ignore the lighter weight worsted version in that same bunch as it is quite fragile and prone to a short life).  So if you are a flannel lover and happen upon a length in a more interesting pattern, purchase it immediately even if the pattern is faint. Its like may never come again.