Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour.
The workwear clothing industry is growing
In the United Kingdom, if workwear[ workwear] is provided to an employee without a logo, it may be subject to income tax being levied on the employee for a "In kind." However, if company clothing is provided with logos on then the employee may be entitled to a tax rebate to help pay for the upkeep.
History
In Britain from the mid 19th century until the 1970s,
dustman, coalmen, and the manual laborers known as
navvies wore
,
[ Railway navvies] corduroy pants, heavy boots,
[ Leisure hour] and
,
[ The way we wore] often with a brightly colored cotton
neckerchief to soak up the sweat. Later versions of the donkey jacket came with leather shoulder patches to prevent wear when shouldering a spade or pick. Mill workers in Yorkshire and Lancashire wore a variant of this basic outfit with
.
[ Tap Roots][ Stanleys view] The cuffs of the pants were frequently secured with string, and
were worn without a collar to decrease the likelihood of being caught in the steam powered machinery.
By the early Victorian era, a working class man's occupation could be identified through his attire. Millers, bakers and cooks wore white clothing due to the importance of food hygiene, , and wore heavy duty leather aprons, butchers and fishmongers wore straw hats and red or blue striped aprons, and wore and caped as protection from the rain. wore one of the most distinctive outfits, comprising a flat cap, well polished boots, a silk scarf known as a kingsman, and blue corduroy trousers and waistcoat with gold huntsman buttons (i.e. buttons with a hunting motif).[Mayhew, London labour and the London poor] The tradition of the pearly king emerged during the late 19th century when a young street sweeper named Henry Croft imitated the costermongers' clothing by stitching mother of pearl buttons to the seams of his jacket and trousers.[ Pearly Kings and Queens, London's other royal family]
Asian workwear
In Japan, workwear developed during the early 20th century from a synthesis of Japanese and European clothing.
Tobishoku, Japanese high rise construction workers would wear
jika-tabi boots with
Tobi trousers pants which emerged from Dutch knickerbockers and Japanese design.
They were often stitched using
Sashiko, a garment mending technique originally made by Japanese farmers and fishermen to repair damaged garments.
[Mason, H. "The Object: A Look Into The Things We Own And How We See Them."]
Modern Chinese workwear was developed from the five button Zhongshan suit popularized by Sun Yat-Sen and Mao Zedong. This was derived from fatigue blouses issued to the prewar German, British and Russian armies in addition to the blue denim and worn by French factory workers. Under Communism the Mao jacket became mandatory for all sections of society and was made in blue for the workers, grey or tan for CCP members, black for policemen, and green for the military. High ranking party members were entitled to four rather than two external pockets.[ Photos of Chinese workers in Mao suits, 1980s] In cold weather, a padded two-piece outfit based on the Russian telogreika was worn by peasants and construction workers.
Maritime workwear
Since the late 18th century,
Merchant navy and dockworkers have worn
denim flared trousers, striped
, knitted
roll neck jumpers, and short blue
.
[ Gentleman's gazette] This basic outfit, paired with a thick leather belt,
flat cap and clogs, was also a mark of identification for turn of the century criminal gangs such as the
Scuttlers.
[ Scuttlers gang]
On the more luxurious
and
, deckhands wore neatly pressed
Dress uniform similar to those of the
Royal Navy and
USN, while waiters and
wore white
with a
band collar, gilded brass buttons, and a gold stripe on the trouser leg. In wet weather, sailors wore
oilskins and
, but contemporary
fishermen generally wear a two piece yellow or orange waterproof jacket and trousers. Modern updates to the traditional look include
,
,
, and
. In Europe, the most common workwear onboard vessels is a boilersuit. Straw hats,
and tarred waterproof hats are no longer in widespread civilian use, but wool or denim versions of the Greek fisherman's cap remain common.
Equestrian workwear
Before 1900, the haulage industry relied on horse-drawn transportation in rural areas not served by a
train station. In the
Old West,
stage coach drivers,
wagon and
pony express riders wore linen
, tall boots and
as protection from the dust and sun. The attire of the working
cowboy, copied from Mexican
vaquero clothing, included blue
jeans,
with
, a
bandana, a
stetson hat, and a checked
western shirt with
.
British postal worker, so-called because they originally rode postilion on the horses of the that collected letters from , wore a blue coat and scarlet waistcoat to identify them as employees of the British crown. As of 2025, Royal Mail continues this tradition by issuing red jackets and polo shirts to their employees. The first , reinforced with iron plates, were introduced around 1600 to protect the postman's legs from the heavy draw bar of the mail coach. Originally, were worn but by the 1850s these had been replaced with or which were less likely to be knocked off by low-hanging tree branches. Although had largely been superseded by by the 1890s, postmen continued to deliver the mail on horseback to remote addresses until the 1950s. Although most postal services wear blue, American USPS mailmen have worn grey military pattern since the 1940s and Polish postal workers wore a maciejowka cap and brown uniform derived from those used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire before blue uniforms were introduced under communism. In colder countries like Germany, Norway or Finland, postmen wear with a turn-down flap to protect the ears and face, while mail carriers in Australia, South Africa and the Southern US are issued shorts and due to the tropical climate.
Railroad use
In the
Old West era,
Union Pacific and railroad workers wore distinctive
overalls, caps and
made from
hickory stripe[ Hats and headwear] before
were invented in the early 20th century.
[ Art of manliness][ Hickory stripe] Railway conductors, porters and
wore more formal blue uniforms based on the three piece
lounge suit, with brass buttons and a
military surplus kepi from the Civil War era. In modern times, the striped engineer cap remains part of the uniform of American train drivers.
[ Engineer cap]
Modern era
Logging industry
Since the days of the
Old West, American and Canadian
have worn
buffalo plaid , wool
,
, tall waterproof boots with a reinforced toecap, and
chaps as protection from the
chainsaw.
[ The Lumberjacks] Olive drab versions of the padded wool jacket were issued to
US Army jeep crews during the war, and plaid Pendletons became popular casual wear in America during the 1950s.
[ Uniforms of the US Army]
Use by truckers
From the 1930s onwards,
and mechanics wore a distinctive outfit comprising mechanic's cap, white T-shirt,
bandana,
boiler suit, checked shirt,
leather coat,
Pendleton jacket, double
denim jacket, and
blue jeans.
[ Cool American truckers] The
skipper cap in particular signified the truckers' link with the big
seaports, from which imported goods were transported all over the country. This look served as the inspiration for the
ton-up boy,
raggare, and greaser subculture during the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1980s,
[ The trucker hat] the
had been replaced with foam and mesh
known as
or gimme caps, which were originally given to truck drivers by manufacturers such as
John Deere,
Mountain Dew or
Budweiser to advertise their products.
[ Comeback of trucker hats][ History of the trucker hat]
1990s to 2020s
In the present day, industrial and
service industry workwear typically comprises T-shirts or
that are cheap to replace, black or navy
gabardine pants, steel capped boots, and for cashiers at large
like
Wal-Mart or
Aldi, a colored waistcoat or
tabard bearing the company logo.
[ Wal mart uniforms cause controversy again] Zip up
, originally invented during the 1970s for use by
meat packing plant workers in the large refrigerated units, are also commonly worn by factory workers, barrow boys and stock handlers in colder climates.
Inspiration in Fashion
During the 1980s, workwear such as the
donkey jacket and
Doc Martens were popular street attire for British
,
suedeheads,
and football hooligans.
[ Patches checks and violence] More recently,
Celtic punk groups such as
Dropkick Murphys have adopted aspects of the look such as the
flat cap to assert their working class Irish-American identity.
In the 21st century, the style has also made a huge impact on the fashion industry, including segments such as streetwear.
See also
-
Personal protective equipment
-
Dress code
-
Western dress codes
