90s Gap Plaid Flannel — Green & Yellow, L

Kelly green, sunflower yellow, cornflower blue and charcoal, crossed with a fine red line: a Gap flannel that could have walked straight out of 1993. It's woven in Portugal from the cotton and rayon blend Gap used in its best years, so it's soft, a little heavy and lovely in the way it hangs.

Details

Brand: Gap
Era: early 1990s
Fabric: 85% cotton, 15% rayon
Made in Portugal
Button-down collar, chest pocket, curved shirttail hem
Tagged size: Men's L
Condition: very good; there are a few tiny pale flecks near the chest pocket, visible only up close

Measurements (laid flat)

Pit to pit: 23"
Shoulder: 21"
Sleeve: 23.5"
Back length: 29"

Fit

Men's: a true L, about 46" around the chest, with a roomy 90s cut.
Women's: an oversized boyfriend shirt, great open over a tank or tied at the waist.

The story

In the early 90s, Gap's flannels were everywhere. They sat stacked in every colour on the store tables, they were tied around the waist of half the high school, and they went on open over a band tee or buttoned to the top with Docs. The best of them were woven in Portugal from a soft cotton and rayon blend and dyed in colours so loud they looked lit from inside: hot orange, magenta, electric blue, acid yellow. It was the shirt everyone remembers and the shirt almost nobody kept, which is why finding one now with its colour still intact feels like such a gift.

The flannel was having its own moment at the same time. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Pearl Jam's Ten arrived in 1991, Cameron Crowe's Singles put Seattle flannel on screen in 1992, and Marc Jacobs sent grunge down the runway for Perry Ellis. For most of us, a Gap flannel was how that whole feeling found its way into our own closets.

One of one. Once it's found a home, it's gone.