This is the second part in a two-part series on classic flannel shirts. Part one was on Brooks Brothers' Brooksflannel shirts (linked
here). In this post, we will look at the classic cotton flannel shirts that L.L. Bean pioneered and made famous, chamois and Scotch Plaid flannel shirts. One of the things that I associate with L.L. Bean are heavy cotton shirts made from heavyweight "Chamois" and the lighter weight "Scotch Plaid" flannel. Like many of their products, L.L. Bean pioneered flannel shirts as utilitarian outdoors garments which were so well-made that their reputation spread far beyond campsites to cities and college campuses across the globe. Over the years, I have had a number of both of these types of shirts and can attest to their well-earned reputation.
The predecessor to the chamois shirt was called the "Leatherette" shirt and was, as far as I have been able to ascertain, introduced in 1927. The image above of such a shirt is from the L.L. Bean Archive and is featured on the blog
BackwoodsPlaid here in a great post about the L.L. Bean Archive. That fine blog,
The Daily Prep, also did an excellent feature last fall comparing classic and contemporary chamois and Scotch Plaid flannel shirts,
here. Originally, the Leatherette shirt was made in only one color (tan), and was, from its introduction, a hard-wearing outdoors garment reminiscent of chamois leather.
According to L.L. Bean, the first shirt with the "chamois" name was introduced in 1933, and the above image shows the chamois shirt in the
Spring 1939 catalog in the original color, tan.
The New Yorker 5/7/1960. Two decades later by the early 1960s, a second color, red, had been introduced.
The L.L. Bean
Spring 1964 catalog has a color photo of the chamois shirt in both colors along with other staples such as the Lounger Boot and Hudson's Bay Point Blankets.
A closer look.
The same catalog also offered the chamois shirt for women in the same colors as for men.
The
Spring 1964 catalog also contained other flannel shirts such as that other legendary item, the Maine Guide Shirt in 100% wool.
In the early 1960s amidst a very competitive market for cotton & wool blend shirts such as Viyella, Lanella and Brooksflannel, L.L. Bean offered their version of a cotton/wool blend shirt, called the "Wooltohna" shirt. These shirts were offered in the tartans of Ancient Campbell and Ancient Royal Stewart, and shows L.L. Bean putting historical tartans to good use. This was something they would do well in the Scotch Plaid flannel shirt.
However, as long as we are on the topic of tartans, the Spring 1964 catalog also offered "Imported Tartan Shirts" in a dress shirt style made from long staple pima cotton woven in Switzerland. This was another staple item that L.L. Bean continued offering into 1980s warm weather catalogs as "Bean's Pima Cotton Shirt." These were offered in a wider variety of tartans such as Royal Stewart, Dress Campbell, Dress Stewart and Black Watch, all of which were eventually also offered as "Scotch Plaid" flannel shirts. This way one would wear tartan year round.
The
Spring 1964 catalog also offered more wool shirts in small checks,
as well as in solid colors. Those "8-Inch Overlap Seam Moccasins" look pretty nice, too.
Finally, the
Spring 1964 catalog also offered all cotton flannel shirts, a type of shirt that they would develop in many ways in the coming decades.
In the early 1970s, "forest green" was added to the earlier colors of tan and red. Fast forward another decade to the
Christmas 1982 catalog. L.L. Bean now offered the chamois shirt in six colors, and sizing was still by half-inch neck sizes.
In addition to chamois shirts, the
Christmas 1982 catalog also offered that other standard item, "Scotch Plaid Shirts." These were originally offered with straight point collars, with button-down collars being added later. For a number of years the tartan choices were changeless, as seen above. That Weathered Campbell is a fine shirt.
This is what a well-worn example of the Weathered Campbell looks like. Old-school L.L. Bean.
The
Christmas 1982 catalog still also offered the Maine Guide Shirt,
Trail Model Vests, "Timberline Flannel Shirts,"
and "Doeskin" Shirts. There was also a Gunsling Belt in that amazing catalog.
Finally, the
Christmas 1982 catalog also offered sleepwear, such as these nightshirts, made from the same flannel as their regular Scotch Plaid shirts.
Early Autumn 1983. More Scotch Plaid. Same tartans. Why change the feed on a winning racehorse?
Early Autumn 1983. Cotton/wool Rangeley Flannel shirts were also offered in historical tartans.
Christmas 1984. A year later the color choices had expanded to nine colors for the chamois shirt.
The
Christmas 1984 catalog continued the tradition of offering heavy-duty outdoors items such as the Maine Guide shirt, Woodman's Pants,
Heavyweight Jac-Shirts, Field Coats, Buckskin gloves,
the Northwoods Jac-Shirt, Cold-Proof Hats, Insulated Overpants,
Pendleton Shirts and Ragg Knit caps. Page after page of heavy-duty items sort of makes me a bit dizzy.
Christmas 1985. The chamois shirt was now offered in eleven colors (it is offered in even more color choices today).
Christmas 1985. The Rangeley Flannel was offered in Tartan, Guncheck and Solid versions. Those gun club check versions are very nice, indeed. This was an extremely impressive lineup of cotton/wool blend shirts.
Christmas 1985. As long as we're on the topic of L.L. Bean flannel, another perennial favorite of the winter months has long been L.L. Bean flannel sheets. We've had a number of sets over the years.
Christmas 1989. Chamois was still offered in eleven color choices,
and Scotch Plaid shirts were offered in still more choices of tartan, as well. There was the addition of a Thinsulate Lined Scotch Plaid shirt, as well. I say the more choices of authentic Scotch Plaid the better.
The
Christmas 1989 catalog also contained chamois robes,
along with Scotch Plaid robes and pyjamas. A word about pyjamas - I wish that L.L. Bean would bring back the traditional drawstring waist on the bottoms of men's pyjamas. It is just more comfortable. I'm putting up with elastic waist pjs from L.L. Bean, so I've earned the right to complain.
Fall 1990. Shepherd's Check Flannel Shirts were a new addition in this catalog. Ragg sweaters also had a lot of color choices. I always thought that light grey was about the only real ragg sweater color choice.
When I think of classic-era L.L. Bean I think, almost elementally, in terms of "wool,""cotton,""leather," and "rubber." So many of L.L. Bean's best products were made out of these, or combinations of these. The products were not spruced up with fancy advertising that touted "heritage" or some such guff, but carried the L.L. Bean "Freeport, Maine" label, and that was enough. As we have seen, into the early 1990s, L.L. Bean carried reliable garments and equipment that was made in the USA (or often in the UK, in the case of sweaters, or with fabrics woven elsewhere such as Switzerland, Portugal or the UK) that reflected a history of product development that was the fruit of years of outdoors testing. Cotton chamois and flannel shirts were two such types of garments that customers no doubt returned to again and again. I miss the vibrant colors of Scotch Plaid shirts in historical tartans. They had clear buttons, fairly long tails, longer collar points and an ample fit. Out of all of L.L. Bean's cotton flannel shirts, the classic-era chamois and Scotch Plaid flannel shirts remain my favorites and the bar by which I measure L.L. Bean's contemporary shirts.
Sadly, several years ago I discarded a number of classic-era shirts and a threadbare field coat that had worn out. I regret this, because as I now know, they were irreplaceable. This is the dilemma of seeing classic-era shirts and other things expire only to have no comparable replacement waiting in the wings. However, we still have a number of contemporary and classic-era L.L. Bean things chamois and Scotch Plaid in the house.
We have some Scotch Plaid flannel and chamois robes (flannel sheets in the background).
Nothing says "hot cocoa and cookies" more than a pair of Scotch Plaid pyjamas in Royal Stewart.
A chamois shirt in a check pattern, which was a gift from mother, many years ago.
A NOS Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in the Lindsay tartan. One needs to stockpile these things, as they aren't being made like this anymore.
A women's Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in a tartan that I can no longer remember the name of.
Another women's Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in the Stewart Black tartan.
And yet another women's Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in the Buchanan tartan.
A men's Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in the Malcolm tartan,
and another men's Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in the Royal Stewart Dress tartan.
An old tag on a Royal Stewart flannel shirt.
Another old tag. A "Freeport, Maine" tag stood for made in the USA quality.
A NOS tag on a red chamois shirt. The real deal chamois shirt that came in neck sizes rather than Small-Large sizes. Another stockpiled shirt.
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Which leads me to the topic of contemporary chamois and flannel. Several years ago, I needed a couple of new flannel shirts, so I immediately located the L.L. Bean catalog and placed an order. The shirts that arrived were disappointing. Not like the old school Scotch Plaid shirts that I had so recklessly discarded. However, as a loyal customer, I decided to try them anyway. To make a long story short, I got rid of them because they shrank unevenly, the construction was very clumsily done and I wearied of comparing them to the classic-era shirts. I recently saw the "1933 Chamois Cloth Shirt" on the L.L. Bean website and had to chuckle. The shirt is described as having a "broken-in vintage feel," a "rich heritage" and "a tailored fit for camp-to-city versatility." It's hard to imagine the grand old man, Mr. L.L. Bean himself, in one of these. When I was in high school, college and as a young adult, shirts like this were broken in through use and abuse. They were worn in the city like trophies because they were real deal field gear. In other words, L.L. Bean chamois and flannel shirts themselves were the heritage. It was a living heritage. Such products didn't need any other advertisement than simply the name "L.L. Bean" with a tag that read "Freeport, Maine."
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My wife and I were recently in an L.L. Bean store and my wife walked over to the current Scotch Plaid shirt display and commented that she thought that the plaids weren't as nice as they used to be. I had to agree. Nothing beats the clear and vibrant colors of classic-era Scotch plaids in those familiar historical tartans that faded and got softer over time. That's what made the old chamois and Scotch Plaid shirts so great. Sure, they eventually wore out, and with frayed collars and blown out elbows, were regretfully discarded. That's the L.L. Bean I miss: Genuine field gear that made the transition to campus and town easy and fun. Clothing that, when it did wear out, could be replaced with the same thing again, and yet, again. There is still one Scotch Plaid flannel shirt in the house that I cannot locate. I know it is around somewhere, because I no longer discard classic-era L.L. Bean shirts that have worn out. Experience has taught me to keep everything.
