Flannel -- A Tradition That Never Goes Out of Style

 Gadgets are good, books can be beautiful, sweaters can be sensible, and sexy lingerie -- well it’s seductive to say the least. But what would the majority of women (and their daughters) like wrapped up under the Christmas tree? You guessed it -- it’s a fabulous flannel nightgown to replace the thread-bare, worn (and well-loved) one they’re probably wearing Christmas morning.

And because flannel is long-wearing, it's actually become a once-a-year gift giving tradition.


Recently, at a MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) gathering, the speaker shared ways to create memories for children that would last a lifetime. Lots of ideas were exchanged, but the one that got everyone talking was the idea of purchasing a new flannel nightgown every holiday season. One mother said, “Every Christmas my Mom let us open one gift on Christmas Eve. We always knew it was going to be a new Lanz of Salzburg flannel nightgown and we couldn’t wait to put it on --we didn’t care if it was a holiday print or a Lanz classic pattern -- we were thrilled!”

Kristen Donnell of Kristen’s Pajama Company, who sells hundreds of Lanz of Salzburg flannel nightgowns, notes, “All my customers have flannel nightgown stories. I have had fans of Lanz recount stories of their grandparents wearing Lanz flannels when the Austrian company was newly established in 1938. This was only 48 years after Christmas became a national holiday in the United States. Many of my male customers say they can’t show up on Christmas Eve without a Lanz flannel nightgown under the Christmas tree.”

Traditions are a part of the holiday season no matter what you are celebrating. A particularly bittersweet story was retold to Kristen in a recent customer e-mail. A woman wrote that a favorite Hanukkah tradition was receiving a Lanz flannel nightgown that matched the one her mother wore on the last night of Hanukkah. She said that although her mother was no longer alive, she has continued this tradition with her own family. And though some in the family were boys, she included them by giving the big guys and small a new pair of plaid pajamas.

Certainly the tradition of flannel pajamas was born out of necessity, when there was no such thing as central heating, and once away from the hearth, rooms -- whether in castles or cottages -- were cold. Flannel’s soft but dense weave was the perfect fabric to chase away the chills for everyone from newborns to newlyweds.

Lanz of Salzburg understood that flannel was practical, but as practicality gave way to a more modern way of dressing (and that included sleepwear) they designed fun and feminine patterns that could make wearers feel good inside and out.

So no matter whether you are giving or receiving flannel this year -- for the first time or the 50th -- you’re not just exchanging sleepwear; you’re part of a wonderful tradition that just might be with your family and friends for generations.