Blue collar fashion has been worked to the bone in the fashion industry in recent years, but are there still ways to make it fit in with current trends?
Don’t be afraid to mix your collars up
One of the things I find most appealing about being in
fashion is the ability to combine different aspects from different cultures or
aesthetics that you may not necessarily think could be blended together in
order to create an outfit that truly speaks to who you are as a person. Two of
my favourite aesthetics to pull from are traditional blue-collar workwear and
preppy white-collar attire. And although the blue collar and white-collar
communities in the real world may not always get along with each other, pieces
that we can pull from traditional aspects of each of these styles can be
combined to make for interesting outfits to give an interesting twist to an
otherwise basic or outdated outfit. Chore jackets, button up shirts, faded out
jeans, the list goes on. For example, that white oxford shirt that you save for
special occasions? Throw it on with that Carhartt jacket you bought a few years
ago and a nice pair of blue jeans.
Cowboys don’t just live down south
Being someone who grew up in a town where mostly
everyone lives the kind of small-town, blue-collar life that you can find on TV
often, I've grown nostalgic over that kind of aesthetic ever since I’ve come to
Toronto, especially western themed things. Whether that be cuisine, fashion or
television and movies. One show that I can’t ever seem to stop watching is “Yellowstone”,
and in particular Kevin Costner and his character John Dutton. From denim on denim,
to the neutral color tones of workwear being worn down from being on the ranch,
he’s always wearing his best blue-collar attire to deal with all the trouble of
being the most important man in Montana, we can all take some notes from him.
No western themed clothes in your closet? Try rooting through your dad or
grandpa’s old clothes they haven’t worn, and you may just find a hidden gem in
there like an old pair of Redwing cowboy boots to get your outfit started from
the ground up. (P.S. you don’t need a comically large cowboy hat to dress like
a cowboy).
Pay attention to the finer details
I’ve been of fan of clothing that really gets it right on the small stuff, with a few of my favourite pieces coming from Japan. From classic Japanese-americana fashion to the intricacies of Japanese denim (shoutout Daniel Caesar), there are so many workwear-related aesthetics to pull from. Japanese culture is synonymous with what blue collar fashion is, with many parts of the fashion industry going hand in hand with what western workwear clothing is made to be: its generally built to last a lifetime. Japanese denim, for example, has a more arduous creation process compared to other types of denim, however it is also more likely to last you a lifetime along with the intricacies of the fading telling a story of how the wearer has worn the jeans. Japan has even produced some of the most iconic brands of workwear that we can see being worn today, like Kapital or even some iconic pieces like the Tabi shoe. Pairing up your nicest pair of Japanese denim with nearly any kind of vintage workwear can easily make your yard chore outfits into a veritable fashion statement.
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