Most plaid flannel shirts are bought for the weekend and forgotten by Monday. That’s not the shirt’s fault. It’s a fit and fabric problem, and there are a lot of bad versions out there doing the category no favors. The ones worth owning are cut to work untucked over a white tee or tucked into chinos with a belt. They feel substantial without being stiff, and the plaid is considered rather than loud. We’ve been particular about weight here because a thin flannel is barely better than a regular shirt, and the whole point is that warmth and texture you get when the fabric actually has some body to it. Color matters too. Not every red and black tartan is created equal, and some of these patterns are genuinely versatile in ways that cheaper versions never are. These are the flannel shirts that work harder than their price suggests and look better than their casualness implies.