Children's Plaid Shirts Guide

Children's plaid shirts are woven-check shirts in the larger, bolder patterns that distinguish plaid from gingham's small even checks: tartans, madras and flannel checks in crossing bands of several colors. Plaid is the hardest-working pattern in children's shirting - it hides the evidence of a day better than any solid, spans seasons from summer madras to winter flannel, and dresses from playground to family photo without changing its nature.

Because plaid is a woven pattern, its quality is structural and visible: the checks should match at the button front, pockets and side seams on a well-cut shirt, and the fabric itself - flannel, madras or plain cotton - decides the shirt's season and care more than the pattern does.

Flannel, Madras and Cotton Plaids

Flannel plaid shirts are brushed cotton, soft on both sides, and are the autumn-winter standard: warm as a shirt, warmer as an open layer over a t-shirt, and forgiving of every crease. Madras plaids are lightweight, often in brighter patchwork-style checks, and belong to summer - the fabric breathes and the colors are unapologetically cheerful. Plain-weave cotton plaids sit between, the school-and-weekend middle ground.

Tartan patterns carry named, traditional color combinations - the reds of Royal Stewart, the dark greens of Black Watch - which look smartest in smaller scales on children. Whatever the fabric, look for pattern matching at the placket and a pocket cut on the bias or matched to the body; a pocket whose checks collide with the body's is the fastest tell of a carelessly made plaid shirt.

Fit and Styling

Fit plaid shirts like other button shirts - shoulders on the point, buttons closed without pulling when seated, sleeve to the wrist - with one addition: plaid's strong horizontal lines make fit errors visible, so a shirt that pulls at a button announces it in a wavy stripe. Between sizes, the larger usually wears better, and flannel in particular is cut generously by most makers for layering.

Styling is plaid's party trick. Buttoned and tucked, it passes most smart-casual tests; open over a plain tee with sleeves rolled, it is a light jacket substitute; under a plain sweater with the collar and cuffs showing, it layers like a much more expensive outfit. Keep the rest of the outfit solid - plaid plus another pattern is a fight, plaid plus solids is a look.

Care and Buying Checks

Flannel washes soft and gets softer; wash inside out, cool, and expect quality flannel to keep its brush through many washes while cheap flannel pills early - rub the fabric between your fingers in the shop and reject anything already bobbling on the rail. Madras and cotton plaids wash straightforwardly; bright madras colors can bleed at first, so wash with like colors initially.

Hold the shirt up and check the checks run straight across the body, not drifting downhill - a sign of skewed fabric that will twist after washing. Bought in a classic tartan with matched patterns and sound fabric, a plaid shirt is the one patterned shirt a child can wear weekly for years without it ever looking like the same outfit twice.