Successful seasonal dressing hinges on fabric choice. When it comes to fall and winter, dense, heavy, warm fabrics are the cornerstones of weather-appropriate style.
Below you’ll find the details of the essential fall and winter fabrics you should have in your closet in rough weight order from lightest to heaviest.
Cotton Oxford
Cotton oxford cloth is a classic shirting fabric for more casual or sporty styles of dress shirts. It’s a bit thicker than what we’d consider “fine” dress shirt fabrics, with a weave that resembles a more pronounced pinpoint. While oxford cloth is a fabric you can wear year-round, its heft and versatility make a great fall and winter alternative to those thinner fabrics, like twills or broadcloths, that you might ordinarily pair with trousers or a suit. It also layers well with sweaters and vests.
Chambray & Denim
We’ve grouped these two together because they’re worn in very similar ways (and often confused with one another). They’re year-round workwear staples that layer well with other fabrics and come in heavier weights as well. You’ll most often find chambray in shirt form, woven with a plain weave, while denim is typically a “bottom weight” fabric, or a thick one used for bottoms (pants, shorts, etc.) and outerwear, in addition to shirts, woven with a twill weave. Chambray shirts are highly versatile and can be worn with suits to tone down their formality. Denim pants make a great base for cold-weather looks with lots of layers on top, whether they be sweaters and vests or shirts and sport coats.
Flannel
Cotton Flannel. Most often used for shirts, cotton flannel is a particularly soft woven fabric that’s been brushed to create a fuzzy texture. Some flannels are brushed on only one side, while others are brushed on both sides. The fuzziness the brushing creates increases the warmth of the fabric, as the fibers help the shirt retain more heat. Cotton flannel, especially with a plaid pattern, is a cold-weather classic.
Wool Flannel. Like cotton flannel, wool flannel is a woven fabric that’s been brushed to create a fuzzy texture. Wool flannel, however, is generally found in suiting or outerwear fabric rather than shirt fabric because it tends to be heavier. Wool flannel suiting fabric often maintains the smoothness of worsted wool, while wool flannels used for outerwear can be a bit more coarse and thick. The fuzziness the brushing creates increases the warmth of the fabric, as the fibers help the shirt retain more heat.
