Flannel Fridays do not mean Plaid Fridays

Flannel and plaid are NOT the same thing. Why can't people get that through their head.

At my school in the fall and winter months, many people do this thing called "Flannel Friday." On Fridays they wear "flannel." BUT IT'S NOT FLANNEL THEY ARE WEARING. They just wear plaid, which is a pattern, not flannel, which is a material. And they call it "Flannel Fridays." No. Stop. You're wrong. Call it Plaid Friday if you're going to simply wear plaid.

I don't know why this bothers me so much. It's really weird, but it does and it always has. I guess it's just because I have been properly educated on patterns and materials and I have always been a wearer of both plaid, and flannel, but knew the difference. Yes, most flannel is plaid because that's just the design they choose to put on it, but not all plaid is flannel. There is light weight cotton plaid or polyester plaid or tweed plaid or whatever else. It's just a design on any type of material and has nothing to do with the material itself. Flannel is a more heavy weight material. It can turn kind of fuzzy after many washes. It was originally made of wool, but now they mostly just use cotton or some synthetic fiber to make it. It's woven in a certain way and it all around just looks and feels different. It is similar to the Scottish fabric, Tartan, which is probably the reason people get flannel mixed up with plaid so much. Tartan is used for both the design and the fabric because Tartan is pretty much always plaid. It's what they make kilts out of. So Tartan may be used to describe both the material or design, but plaid may not. So don't. You just sound silly. If you wanted to call it "Tartan Tuesdays" or something, I would be fine with that, but with Flannel Fridays it's like people aren't being politically correct with their clothing.

This is a flannel shirt, it's more of a checked plaid.

These are flannel sheets. They are NOT plaid.

This is what the material looks like, kind of fuzzy and thick.

Flannel is often used for bed sheets in the winter as well as the button up shirts. It's main design is checked or plaid but on sheets it can be anything.

Plaid is vertical and horizontal, sometimes even a few thin diagonal lines, with different colors. It's used for shirts, shorts, or just whatever anyone wants to be plaid.


Plaid shorts. Obviously not made of flannel.

 

It's just a design.

You can see how this the shirt is. This is what most people wear for "Flannel Friday."

Just another type of plaid.

So you see, many students at my school are very wrong and look silly when they attempt to participate in "Flannel Friday" and just wear plaid in a different material and call it flannel. I hope people learn the correct terms for clothing and what they are putting on their body so they don't look so foolish in the future.

Pictures from

http://www.galaxyarmynavy.com/item-4739red.asp

http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/2009/10/04/handmade-holidays-my-sisters-dont-dare-peek/

http://www.ljcfyi.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/create-plaid-pattern/

http://www.selectism.com/2008/07/18/unis-blue-plaid-shirt-fall-2008/

http://www.momfinds.com/2010/taste-test-which-plaid-shorts-costs-almost-ten-times-more-than-the-other/