Outerknown Blanket Shirt Review: The Best Shirt Jacket for When Temperatures Drop

Shirt jackets are a dime a dozen. The crowd-favorite style is most often a brushed fabric rendered in cotton, but can be made with wool as well as man-made materials like polyester and acrylic. Sometimes they’re lined with sherpa or filled with down material, but most times they’re simply just heavier.

But with enough options on the market to render you completely paralyzed at the point of purchase, we’d understand if you just threw your hands up in defeat. But don’t wade in despair. Outerknown’s Blanket Shirt is one of the most worthwhile shirts you can get.

Outerknown Blanket Shirt: What We Think

This is a good shirt that warrants the price tag, both because of how it’s made (without synthetic chemicals) and how it wears (it’s wrinkle-resistant and fuller-fitting). While there are more traditional flannel shirts out there, this one pulls double duty as a standard shirt and something you could easily throw over a hoodie or sweater when temperatures dip.

Outerknown

Outerknown Blanket Shirt

• $148.00 at Outerknown

It’s super soft.

The fabric is deceptive. It feels just about as soft as a sweater but is really just your old friend cotton twill. But it’s not just cozy; it’s pretty breathable, too. You won’t feel suffocated in this shirt like you would in a wool jacket, and it only gets softer with time.

There are a million variations.

Because Outerknown knows it’s got a good thing going, it made it into over a dozen different plaids and even a few solids. So if your fancy hasn’t been struck by one, it could well be struck by another. Or if on the statistically significant chance that this will be your new fave, you’ll be glad that they made several for you to stock up on.

It’s flattering.

The Blanket Shirt finds the silver lining in the no man’s land between slim and sloppy. It’s perfectly relaxed without teetering into the geometry of a potato sack but tailored enough to all but guarantee at least six double-takes every time you leave the house. The shirt offers excellent mobility and is actually comfortable in the armpit areas, where the shirt’s setting offers plenty of room for even broad shoulders.

Scott Ulrich

It’s affordable for what you’re getting.

For over a hundred bucks, it isn’t the cheapest shirt. But it’s a mega value for what it is: a shirt jacket. Organic cotton twill? Yup. Corozo nut buttons? Duh. Wrinkle resistant? But of course. You’ll be glad you bought one.

The colors could be… calmer.

I’m not one to dress in zany colors or explosive patterns. And although there are a few tonal or muted colorways, Outerknown’s Blanket Shirt mostly comes in pretty loud patterns. They are, however, often inspired by landscapes — a sun setting over a rocky coast, wild waves or an open field (and they even show you at the bottom of the product page).

I’d take something a little more classic, though — like the flannels we fiend for from old L.L. Bean catalogs. I know, this is a modern rendition, but legacy brands got it right a long time ago. Why change now?

Outerknown Blanket Shirt: Alternatives

While Outerknown has made our favorite overall shirt jacket, there is a multitude of alternatives that will do the trick, should you be keen on something else. Our best upgrade shirt jacket is the Whiting Shirt from Wax London. We even pit the Blanket Shirt and the Whiting Shirt against each other to figure out which was actually king. Turns out they’re both great (shocking, we know).

If neither of those are your speed, check out our guide to the best shirt jackets, where you’ll find a dozen of our favorite picks.

Outerknown

Outerknown Blanket Shirt

• $148.00 at Outerknown

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