4 min readApr 14, 2026 01:21 PM IST First published on: Apr 14, 2026 at 01:21 PM ISTThe return of the flannel shirt to global fashion this year has been framed as a simple shift: A move toward clothing that feels “casual without being sloppy.” But beneath this surface lies a more complex question, one that fashion rarely addresses directly: Who gets to be seen as effortlessly stylish, and who is dismissed as careless?When global fashion systems — runways, luxury brands, and international media — validate relaxed dressing, it is framed as innovation. Loose silhouettes, oversized shirts, and layered informality are celebrated as a break from rigid, over-styled aesthetics. Yet similar forms of dressing, when they emerge from everyday necessity rather than curated choice, are rarely afforded the same recognition. The same looseness can be read as stylish in one context and inadequate in another.AdvertisementThis distinction is not abstract. It is visible across everyday life in India.Also Read | The new geopolitics of fashion: An Indian face on the cover of British VogueConsider the delivery worker navigating city traffic in a faded, oversized shirt chosen for comfort in heat and mobility. Or the college student in a Tier-2 city rewearing a slightly loose button-down across multiple settings — classroom, commute, social gatherings — not as a fashion statement, but as a practical wardrobe strategy. For years, such dressing has often been read as informal at best, and careless at worst.Contrast this with the contemporary urban aesthetic now endorsed by global fashion: Oversized shirts worn open over T-shirts, deliberately crumpled textures, relaxed fits paired with structured elements. What was once interpreted as lack of effort is now reframed as a sign of ease — provided it is styled, contextualised, and, crucially, validated.AdvertisementFlannel’s return sits squarely within this shift. Its associations with workwear and 1990s grunge give it an appearance of authenticity, but its current styling is far from accidental. It is paired with tailored trousers, layered with precision, and positioned within a controlled visual narrative. The message is clear: Casualness is desirable, but only when it is carefully constructed.This is where the idea of “effortless dressing” becomes revealing. Effortlessness in fashion is not the absence of effort; it is its concealment. To appear relaxed while remaining legible as stylish requires calibration — of fit, proportion, and context. It requires the right kind of looseness.What distinguishes accepted ease from rejected informality is not the garment itself, but the conditions under which it is worn. When looseness is backed by visible markers of choice — brand, styling, setting — it is read as intentional. When it emerges from constraint — climate, affordability, repetition — it is often stripped of aesthetic value.The implications of this are significant. Fashion does not simply reflect taste; it reinforces hierarchies of perception. It determines whose ways of dressing are seen as aspirational and whose are rendered invisible or inadequate. In doing so, it obscures the fact that many so-called “new” aesthetics have long existed outside the spaces where fashion looks for inspiration.In India, the negotiation between comfort and expectation has always shaped everyday dressing. Climate demands breathability. Mobility requires adaptability. Clothing is often used across contexts, adjusted rather than replaced. What is now being described as a shift toward relaxed dressing is, in many ways, a formal recognition of practices that have long existed — but without acknowledgement of their origins.The resurgence of flannel, then, is not just about a garment cycling back into relevance. It reflects a broader recalibration in how effort is perceived and performed. After years of excess and overstatement, there is a renewed interest in subtlety — clothing that appears not to try too hard. But this subtlety is not neutral. It is governed by codes that determine when ease is credible and when it is dismissed.The real shift is not toward casualness, but toward a redefinition of control. To look effortless today is not to abandon effort, but to display it selectively—and to conceal it where necessary.And perhaps that is what this moment in fashion ultimately reveals: That style is not becoming more relaxed. It is simply becoming more selective about who is allowed to appear that way.The writer is associate professor and programme coordinator for fashion design at IILM University, Gurugram