Unisex grey long flannel bathrobe

Start with what the garment is for: a bathrobe earns its place in the ten minutes after a bath, when you want to be dry and warm at the same time. Flannel is a woven cotton brushed on both faces. The brushing raises a soft nap that traps warmth, without the synthetic feel of a fleece. That is the difference between a flannel robe and one that only looks the part.

In use it shows up as one thing: warm and breathable at once — the combination fleece cannot manage, because the base is still cotton. The same need shows up in our mens flannel dressing gown.

Buyers ask about a cut that works whoever picks it off the hook before anything else, and they are right to — it is where most robes fall down. For more on this, browse our flannel dressing gown womens.

• Soft from the first wear — no breaking-in period: the nap is raised at the mill, not by use
• It looks like clothing, not like loungewear — which is what makes it wearable when someone knocks at the door
• Cut to the ankle — cut to the ankle, it keeps the draught off the legs when you are standing at the kettle at seven in the morning, and it reads as a proper robe rather than a cover-up.
• Belt loops that hold the belt — a small thing, and the first thing missing on a cheap robe

Flannel pills slightly at the cuffs over a couple of winters. A fabric shaver takes care of it in two minutes, and the fabric is otherwise very long-lived. Machine wash at 40°C, tumble dry low. Treated that way, a flannel bathrobe lasts five winters rather than one — the difference between a robe you keep on the back of the door and one you replace every autumn. The same need shows up in our flannel dressing gown.