Utilitarian Chic: How Workwear Infiltrated Streetwear, Again
by Jonathan Kekarainen Cicioli
Workwear is influencing streetwear. The utilitarian staples of brands like Carhartt, Dickies and Timberland are being combined with elements of high fashion and traditional streetwear. This influence stems from two subcultures who co-opted workwear pieces based on their functional design: skateboarders and hip-hop culture. But to say this is a new phenomenon would be negating the rich history that these brands bring to the table. Let’s explore some of the staple pieces that have crept into this latest fascination with workwear and their respective origins.
Skate Culture Strikes Again
Skating never went anywhere. But once again, like the ’90s and early ’00s, it has captured the imagination of the public. The skate world and the streetwear world have always intersected to a certain extent with labels like Supreme and Stussy starting out as skateboard brands. But now designers like Alexander Wang and Vêtements are taking their cues from the subculture, much to the chagrin of many die-hard skateboarders. When Vogue decided to list their favorite skate brands, Lotties Skate Shop, who were featured on the list, responded with a captioned screenshot reading “Suck our vaginas @voguemagazine”. Classy. But they had a point. Nobody likes a culture vulture. And skateboarders have never been very forgiving of poseurs, especially when they ignore the actual people who keep the culture alive and thriving.
Skate culture brings with it the influence of workwear. When falling onto concrete several times a day, durability becomes a factor when choosing a uniform. Although Dickies has existed since 1922, in the 80s and 90s it captured the heart of the skate community because of its durability, as well as its being “readily available and inexpensive, and they became something of a symbol of authenticity in that community,” according to Geof Nudleman.
The classic cut for skateboarders is the Dickies cotton-nylon pants. Looser around the thighs and calves but with a mid-rise waist, these pants have transitioned from the factory to the skatepark seamlessly. Carhartt and Wrangler also gained notoriety in th skate community because of their similar cuts and attention to durability. This type of cut has even moved on to the mainstream side of things with streetwear brands creating trousers and denim based on these shapes. Because of their newfound popularity with the kids, each brand has had to create separate lines like Carhartt-WIP and collaborations with known designers to appease their new young audiences while keeping their regular customers provided for.
For the bold there are overalls. Carhartt, Levi’s and Wrangler each manufacture a pair that strikes a balance that feels at home in the garage or on the street. This is a fairly recent addition to skateboarding attire with some of the older folks giving it the stink eye, but we’ll be damned if it doesn’t look good when you have the balls to wear it loud and proud. It’s the type of garment that, like a good leather jacket, looks better with wear and tear. Pair them with a plain white t-shirt and some Vans and you’re good to go.
The Hip-Hop Connection
DJ Premier of Gang Starr photographed wearing a Carhartt beanie in the 1990's
Skateboarding can’t take all the credit for workwear’s influence. Rap music from the 90s is the junction where the rugged beats of the boom-bap era mix with grittier rhymes that reflect the realities of street life.
When your music reflects the grit of the streets, your wardrobe needs to do the same.
According to a New York Times article, the origin of the Carhartt jacket as a hip-hop staple has its own utilitarian origins. Steven J. Rapiel, the NYC salesman for Carhartt at the time stated, “In the late 1980’s, crack dealers, who also spend a lot of time outdoors, discovered the Carhartt. They needed to keep warm and they needed to carry a lot of stuff [.] Then the kids saw these guys on the street, and it became the hip thing to wear.”
Even as far back as 1992, Barneys was looking to carry the brand’s jackets, feeling that workwear had touched upon something even the affluent wanted to be a part of. The brand was recognized on both coasts at the time, with each rocking the jacket in a slightly different manner. The article states “New York, hip-hoppers prefer their Carhartts mustard brown and hunter green with baggy corduroy pants stuffed into Timberland boots. In Los Angeles, Mr. Ragusa said, the look is more “chain gang”: Carhartts in darker colors with shirts worn underneath and buttoned to the neck.” No doubt an influence of the Chicano and Cholo culture from Southern California.
2Pac photographed in the Carhartt jacket accompanying Rosie Perez.
Another staple of hip-hop workwear has been Timberland boots. Originating from New York, Timbs have been name dropped by the Notorious BIG, Mobb Deep, Jay Z, Nas, KRS-One, the Wu-Tang and were sported by Tupac on the opposite coast. To this day they are consistently name dropped by rappers. Tell me if this doesn’t sound familiar? According to consumer journalist Rob Walker “the legend goes that the first ‘urban’ buyers of Timberland boots were New York drug dealers — guys who had to stand on the street all night and needed the best possible footwear to keep them warm and dry.”
Biggie repeatedly mentionned Timberlands within several songs.
Much like Dapper Dan’s clientele in the '70s and '80s, the hustler became the symbol of success in poverty-stricken post-Reagonomics black America. The difference now was the bootleg Louis Vuitton pattern on a leather bomber was replaced with clothing that guys shopping at a local hardware store might wear. Neither Timberland nor Carhartt had any idea about the new knew market segment they had stumbled upon, but understood quality was what attracted people to the brand. Carhartt even refused to sell to discount chains in order to preserve to quality-based image of their brand.
Even Biz Markie, who wasn’t a “gangster rapper”, wore Timbs.
It’s too easy to say drug culture dictated workwear’s influence on hip-hop alone. Sacha Jenkins states “Because when you don’t have much ownership over where you can land in society, your financial situation, your educational situation, the one thing you can control is the way you look.” Workwear was not the most expensive clothing available, but it was stylish, functional and durable. What better representation for black masculinity could you ask for?
Nas rocking the wheat Timbs
A Hands-On Approach
So what connects skateboarding, hip-hop and the workwear phenomenon? Authenticity through functionality. The skaters didn’t want to have to buy new pants every time they fell off their boards. The rappers wanted to mimic the drug dealers and hustlers who held so much influence in the neighborhoods. Both groups wanted an unpretentious look that reflected to ruggedness of what they lived. And neither wanted to pay an arm and a leg to do it. Even today, it’s about a connection to the physical world. The skateboard deck, the concrete, the feel of vinyl records and cassette tapes. You can’t replicate that on software. It’s a connection to the real. Kind of like making love. GQ recently profiled artist Hugo McCloud, who works with mediums such as industrial-grade metal and concrete walls as canvases. McCloud wears industrial grade Carhartt pants while working in his workshops and will mix his work attire with high-end streetwear pieces when he leaves. There’s no need to change because there’s pride in the work he does. Paint stains are a badge of honor.
Artist Hugo McCloud working in one of his studios.
Authentic Intent
Does this mean we’ll be subjected to people wearing Dickies pants who can neither operate a skill saw or ride a skateboard? Of course. Much like gentrification, most fashion trends move from people who are connected to a culture to people who are wearing it because everyone else is. Hip-hop is 40 years strong and continues to evolve. Skateboarding isn’t going anywhere. And neither are the hard working men and women who wear this stuff unironically on the jobsite.
This author is of the opinion that once anything is worn or done ironically, it’s over-the-hill. Nothing trumps passion for something and that goes for workwear too. The people who took this look from the factories and construction sites to the streets did so because they were passionate about what they did and probably didn’t care about what outsiders considered “fashionable”. What they needed was a uniform that could hold up while they did it. So while many of the old school skaters and old-heads alike may scoff at newbies wearing the clothing they wore years ago, if somebody discovers the beauty of both the board and the beats, the fashion has influenced a new wave beyond just a look.
Works Cited
(Because I didn’t just make this stuff up)
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