This is a sponsored story, one of our paid services. We maintain full editorial independence. Read more here.
Three Shirt Styles, Made-to-Order Sizing, and a New Colourway Inspired by Swedish Autumn
I have a type when it comes to flannels: ombré. I like how the colours bleed into each other instead of sitting in hard blocks.
So the ombrés in my own rotation are the ones I keep reaching for, and I’ve had my eye on a few of SOSOBROTHERS’ heavyweight flannels.
Plenty of brands already make excellent heavyweight flannels, including ombrés. But if you’re spending this kind of money on a shirt, a heavy fabric in a good-looking check isn’t enough. There’s got to be a reason to choose one over all the other very good options.
So I’m looking at the three things that set these apart: the fabric, the choice between the three styles, and the made-to-order measurements. The new brown adds another dimension by dropping the weight to 12.5 oz.
Flannels Had to Catch Up With Denim
SOSOBROTHERS launched its first heavyweight ombré flannel in 2024. Before that, the flannel shirts were lighter, even as the denim range was getting progressively heavier.
Johan, co-founder of the brand, says that mismatch was the reason to rethink the shirts. The brand went back to its partner mills and developed a heavier fabric, using Australian cotton from its proprietary denim programme spun into 7s yarn.
The first colour was blue, followed by red and green. The experiment did not stay small for long: SOSOBROTHERS later described the heavyweight flannels as its most popular shirting fabrics by a wide margin.
Purple and yellow followed, turning the heavier fabric into a proper range. The current 13.5 oz. shirts now have as much going on in the cloth as they do in the colour.
Look Closer at the Check
Look past the ombré colour and the cloth is woven in herringbone, with a fine zigzag running underneath the check instead of a flat grid.
Then it’s brushed on both sides. The inside is softer, while the face keeps more texture. So the pattern is doing two things at once: colour across the surface and herringbone underneath it.
The shirts use YKK hardware, Coats heavy-duty thread and chainstitched seams. But choosing the fabric still does not tell you what shirt you are buying. The same cloth can become three different styles.
Pick the Shirt, Then “Fix” the Fit
Buying the fabric does not lock you into one design. The Western gets pointed yokes; the Work gets work-style chest pockets; the Mechanic gets open chest pockets with a pen-holder slot. All three are regular fits with rounded hems.
Then the made-to-order system kicks in. Sleeve length can still be adjusted at no extra charge. Shirt length, chest, and shoulder changes are $20 each.
The point is not to customise for the sake of it. If the stock measurements work, leave them alone. If the sleeves are always short, add length. If the body is right but the chest is not, change the chest instead of sizing up the whole shirt.
That is where the system earns its keep: one bad measurement no longer forces a compromise everywhere else. Longer arms do not have to mean a baggier chest.
Most of my own flannels are standard sizes, and I would not change measurements that already work. The value here is having the option when they do not.
All the flannels are sanforized and pre-shrunk, but Johan says they can still shrink by up to around 1 inch depending on water, wash cycle, spin and heat. If you adjust the measurements, you need to allow for that yourself; no shrinkage allowance is added automatically. If you are between standard sizes, Johan recommends sizing up.
The trade-off is time. SOSOBROTHERS currently quotes up to seven weeks for production, although shirts ship earlier when they are finished sooner. If you need one for a particular date, order accordingly.
Brown Changes the Formula
The newest brown ombré is inspired by autumn in northern Sweden. It also breaks the 13.5 oz. pattern: at 12.5 oz., the fabric is one ounce lighter than purple, yellow and green.
The weave stays the same. The reason for dropping the weight was comfort: SOSOBROTHERS wanted to make the flannel easier to wear and bring it to a wider audience without taking it out of heavyweight territory.
The brown is also double-brushed on the outside. Johan says the extra brushing gives it enough substance that you won’t notice the one-ounce drop in weight.
The current range is purple, green, yellow and brown. Red remains available only through the Shirt Builder while it’s being discontinued. All four current colours are available through both the MTO shop and the Builder. Brown itself is available as Western, Work and Mechanic.
The ombré is what gets my attention. The ability to choose the shirt and then fix the measurements is what makes this range more than a fabric story.
Share
