Japanese Flannel Shirts: Curvy Lady Chooses Mens

    One article of winter fashion that I recently fell in love with was flannel shirts. Last year, Uniqlo and GU both had an interesting selection of flannel shirts in the men's department that I found would fit me quite nicely. The cut of these shirts is as boxy as one would assume most men's clothing made by fast fashion companies to be, but my frame fills it out well enough that I still feel perfectly womanly.

Front view of me in one of the three flannel shirts I bought from the mens departments of Uniqlo and GU in fall of 2020. They've been a staple of my fall and winter outfits ever since. As you can see, it doesn't overly reveal my figure but doesn't mask it completely either, allowing me to stand up straight and feel perfectly womanly and warm.

Same shirt, side view. It falls straight from the bust down and tucks in around the waist in the back. 

    This year, my husband offered to buy me a woman's cut flannel shirt from Uniqlo because their online store actually had a size that I've been able to wear from them before. I picked a soft gray color that I thought I could probably work into my wardrobe and waited. I was dismayed by the cut. Instead of that nice basic boxy shape that hangs over my frame just fine, I got a billowing tent. Where my mens cut shirts pull into my waist enough to say that yes, under the shirt there is an indention somewhere between my bust and hips, I felt like this thing gave me the silhouette of a monster in a garbage sack.

The front was clearly not meant to cover a shape like mine. See how short it becomes in the middle? They could have planned for someone wearing a woman's shirt to have a bust, but they didn't. The designers assumed a big billowy shape would be more desirable than a reasonably fitted alternative. 

Another awful view. The shortness is really apparent here, as well as the outward motion of the fabric. It wants to be a tent. See the back? It bunches around the waist in an even less flattering shape.


The only way to make it look okay involves slouching a considerable amount. Teenage me would not have minded but teenage me didn't have my back problems.

    So now I am stuck trying to turn this billowy tent into something I would enjoy wearing if only to better utilize my spouse's thoughtful gift. In the meantime, if you're a curvier lady, try the mens section flannel shirts if these billowy shapes annoy you as much as they annoy me.