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Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involvesmanual labour.^[1] Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety.

The workwearclothing industry is growing^[2] and consumers have numerous retailers to choose from. Chains that have made a commitment to the $1 billion and rising workwear business report steady 6 percent to 8 percent annual gains in men's workwear.^[3]

In theUnited Kingdom, if workwear^[4] is provided to an employee without alogo, it may be subject toincome tax being levied on the employee for a "payment in kind." However, if company clothing is provided with logos on then the employee may be entitled to atax rebate to help pay for the upkeep.^[5]

In Britain from the mid 19th century until the 1970s,dustmen, coalmen, and the manual laborers known asnavvies woreflat caps,^[6]corduroy pants, heavy boots,^[7] anddonkey jackets,^[8] often with a brightly colored cottonneckerchief 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 withEnglish clogs.^[9][10] The cuffs of the pants were frequently secured with string, andgrandad shirts were worn without a collar to decrease the likelihood of being caught in the steam powered machinery.

By the earlyVictorian era, a working class man's occupation could be identified through his attire. Millers, bakers and cooks wore white clothing due to the importance offood hygiene,knife makers,blacksmiths andshoemakers wore heavy duty leather aprons, butchers and fishmongers wore straw hats and red or blue striped aprons, andcab drivers woretop hats and capedgreatcoats as protection from the rain.Costermongers wore one of the most distinctive outfits, comprising aflat cap, well polished boots, a silk scarf known as a kingsman, and bluecorduroy trousers and waistcoat with gold huntsman buttons (i.e. buttons with ahunting motif).^[11] The tradition of thepearly king emerged during the late 19th century when a youngstreet sweeper namedHenry Croft imitated the costermongers' clothing by stitchingmother of pearl buttons to the seams of his jacket and trousers.^[12]

In Japan, workwear developed during the early 20th century from a synthesis of Japanese and European clothing.^[13] Tobishoku, Japanese high rise construction workers would wearjika-tabi boots withNikkapokka pants which emerged from Dutchknickerbockers and Japanese design.^[14] They were often stitched usingSashiko, a garment mending technique originally made by Japanese farmers and fishermen to repair damaged garments.^[15] During thePacific War tabi boots were issued toJapanese soldiers to facilitatetree climbing.

Modern Chinese workwear was developed from the five buttonZhongshan suit popularized bySun Yat-Sen andMao Zedong. This was derived fromfatigue blouses issued to the prewar German, British and Russian armies in addition to the blue denimchore jackets andshackets 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 forCCP members, black for policemen, white for naval officers, and green for the military. High ranking party members were entitled to four rather than two external pockets.^[16] In cold weather, a padded two-piece outfit based on the Russiantelogreika was worn by peasants and construction workers.

Since the late 18th century,merchant seamen and dockworkers have worndenimflared trousers, stripedundershirts, knittedroll neck jumpers, and short bluepeacoats.^[17] This basic outfit, paired with a thick leather belt,flat cap and clogs, was also a mark of identification forturn of the century criminal gangs such as theScuttlers.^[18]On the more luxuriouscruise ships andocean liners, deckhands wore neatly presseddress blues similar to those of theRoyal Navy andUSN, while waiters andcabin stewards wore whiteuniforms with aband collar, gilded brass buttons, and a gold stripe on the trouser leg.^{[citation needed]}

In wet weather, historically sailors woreoilskins,Souwesters, and dreadnoughts.^[19] Contemporaryfishermen in poor weather generally wear a two-piece yellow or orange waterproof jacket and trousers. Modern updates to the traditional look includepolar fleeces,hoodies,baseball caps, andknit caps. In Europe, the most common workwear onboard vessels is aboilersuit.

Straw hats,sailor caps and tarred waterproof hats are no longer in widespread civilian use, but wool or denim versions of theGreek fisherman's cap remain common.

Before 1900, the haulage industry relied on horse-drawn transportation in rural areas not served by atrain station. In theOld West,stage coach drivers,wagonteamsters andpony express riders wore linenduster coats, tall boots andslouch hats as protection from the dust and sun. The attire of the workingcowboy, copied from Mexicanvaquero clothing, included bluejeans,cowboy boots withhigh heels, abandana, astetson hat, and a checkedwestern shirt withpearl snaps.

Britishpostmen, so-called because they originally rodepostilion on the horses of themail coaches that collected letters fromstaging posts, wore a blue coat and scarletwaistcoat 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 firstsafety boots, reinforced with iron plates, were introduced around 1600 to protect the postman's legs from the heavydraw bar of the mail coach. Originally,top hats were worn but by the 1850s these had been replaced withpeaked caps orkepis which were less likely to be knocked off by low-hanging tree branches. Althoughpost horses had largely been superseded bybicycles by the 1890s, postmen continued to deliver the mail on horseback to remote addresses until the 1950s. Although mostpostal services wear blue, AmericanUSPS mailmen have worn grey military patternike jackets since the 1940s and Polish postal workers wore amaciejowka cap and brown uniform derived from those used by theAustro-Hungarian Empire before blue uniforms were introduced under communism. In colder countries like Germany, Norway or Finland, postmen wearski caps 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 andpith helmets due to the tropical climate.

In theOld West era,Union Pacifictrain engineers and railroad workers wore distinctiveoveralls, caps andwork jackets made fromhickory stripe^[20] beforeboiler suits were invented in the early 20th century.^[21][22]Railway conductors, porters andstation masters wore more formal blue uniforms based on the three piecelounge suit, with brass buttons and amilitary surpluskepi from theCivil War era. In modern times, the striped engineer cap remains part of the uniform of American train drivers.^[23]

Since the days of theOld West, American and Canadianlumberjacks have wornbuffalo plaidPendleton jackets, wooltuques,trapper hats, tall waterproof boots with a reinforced toecap, andchaps as protection from thechainsaw.^[25] Olive drab versions of the padded wool jacket were issued toUS Army jeep crews during the war, and plaid Pendletons became popular casual wear in America during the 1950s.^[26][27]

From the 1930s onwards,truckers and mechanics wore a distinctive outfit comprisingmechanic's cap, white T-shirt,bandana,boiler suit, checked shirt,leather coat,Pendleton jacket, doubledenim jacket, andblue jeans.^[28] Theskipper cap in particular signified the truckers' link with the bigseaports, from which imported goods were transported all over the country. This look served as the inspiration for theton-up boy,raggare, andgreaser subculture during the1950s and1960s. By the early 1980s,^[29] thepeaked caps had been replaced with foam and meshbaseball caps known astrucker hats or gimme caps, which were originally given to truck drivers by manufacturers such asJohn Deere,Mountain Dew orBudweiser to advertise their products.^[30][31]

In the present day,industrial andservice industry workwear typically comprises T-shirts orpolo shirts that are cheap to replace, black or navypolyester and cotton blend pants,steel capped boots, and for cashiers at largedepartment stores likeWal-Mart orAldi, a colored waistcoat ortabard bearing the company logo.^[32] Zip upPolar fleeces, originally invented during the 1970s for use bymeat packing plant workers in the large refrigerated units, are also commonly worn by factory workers, barrow boys and stock handlers in colder climates.

During the1980s, workwear such as thedonkey jacket andDoc Martenssafety boots were popular street attire for Britishskinheads,suedeheads,hardcore punks andfootball hooligans.^[33] More recently,Celtic punk groups such asDropkick Murphys have adopted aspects of the look such as theflat 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 asstreetwear.^[34] Workwear has not just become a style of clothes that has been adopted by thehipster subculture, but a culture and way of life in this particular community.Pompadour hair cuts,tattoos, denim jackets, military trench coats, lumberjack flannels, chambray shirts,raw denim, andwork boots take part into this workwear style.^[35]

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