Overview
A flannelette shirt is a loose button-up shirt of cotton brushed soft on both sides, usually in a bright red, blue, or green tartan-like check. Light but warm, it is the everyday shirt of the worker, the camper, and the winter weekend.
How it is worn
It is worn buttoned or open over a singlet, sleeves rolled for work or left down against the cold, tucked in or hanging loose. Cheap and hard-wearing, the flanno needs no care and only softens with washing, worn until it falls apart.
History
The checked flannel shirt clothed diggers on the goldfields and bushworkers through the colonial era and became, in its mass-produced flannelette form, an enduring emblem of the Australian worker. It has since swung in and out of fashion but never left the country and suburban wardrobe.