Workwear--The way ahead is long

Workwear is the clothing worn by almost mythical American figures—cowboys, miners, farmers and railroad engineers.  Right now it’s trending chic.

Workwear bib overall

Big-name international designers are collaborating with so-called U.S. heritage brands warmed back to life by fashion’s bright lights. This matters not at all to many men, from high school students to octogenarians, who’ve always worn this stuff because it keeps them warm, it keeps them dry and it lasts close to forever.If it seems a bit jarring that workwear is enjoying a moment when unemployment is high, job creation low and the median household income falling nationwide ($50,303 in 2008, down from $52,163 in 2007), ask yourself this: Since when has fashion been about reality?Fashion, says Claire Watson, an independent vintage curator in New York, “is about picking up on the zeitgeist. It’s a response to the situation.”“When the economy is bad, you want a look that’s associated with employment, no matter what the employment is,” says Mark-Evan Blackman, chairman of the menswear design department at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

“Workwear is coming at a time when the country is saying, ‘Let’s get back to work’ at a very primal level.’”Just look at the current Levi’s ad campaign for its iconic 501 jeans, first manufactured in 1873 and embraced by miners and cowboys, and now worn by everyone: “501. When there is work to be done.”The implication is that after a decade of forthrightness about male back waxing, it’s fine to sweat and stink as you muscle through the workweek, even if it’s in a cubicle. “Guys are feeling all right about being a guy,” says Michael Williams, who blogs about American-made menswear at A Continuous Lean. “The whole metrosexual thing, which I think was a false label put on guys, that’s gone away. Now it’s OK to be masculine.”  Which is OK by the American heritage brands such as Pendleton, Woolrich and Filson as well as Carhartt and Dickies, or shoemakers such as Red Wing and Alden. And it’s OK if somebody like Kenny Nguyen, a 19-year-old UC San Diego biochemistry student on a visit to San Francisco, sports workwear simply because “I like the look of it.” Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at FIT, believes it is the way workwear looks that resonates with younger consumers like Nguyen, who see it as clothing “that has integrity, that is somehow outside the changes of the fashion system and a look that will last.”Case in point: Dickies, which began in 1922 as a bib overall manufacturer in Texas. Today, the family-owned company is surprised at the extent of its “after work” customer base. Its signature 874 work pants, which cost $20 to $25, have been around for decades and are among its top sellers. “It’s about people returning to familiar things with an updated, relevant look to them,” says spokeswoman Misty Otto. Heritage brands are also OK with customers who see their products as green or sustainable because they can be repaired rather than discarded, or whose first experience with durable quality came with a thrift shop purchase.

“Workwear comes down to value,” says Jamie Barshall, the CEO of Penfield, a 35-year-old Massachusetts company with a strong following among Japan’s demanding consumers.

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