Work Pants & Jeans

Work Pants & Jeans covers everything worn below the waist for work, stocked at Robert's Department Store on Mamaroneck Avenue in Mamaroneck, New York. It is a range chosen around two questions: where does the fabric fail first, and can you crouch in it.

Fabric answers the first. Cotton duck with a little stretch is the mainstay, tough where it counts and no longer rigid. Ripstop appears where tearing is the risk, woven so a tear stops where it starts instead of running the length of the leg. Double front trousers carry a second layer across thigh and knee, which roughly doubles the working life of a pair for anyone kneeling daily. Denim covers the jeans, cut bootcut and relaxed so the leg falls over a work boot rather than catching on it.

The second question is answered by construction. Gusseted crotches, elasticated interior waistbands with a silicone grip, brass fly zippers, triple-needle stitching and bartacks at the strain points are what separate work trousers from ordinary ones. Carpenter cuts add a hammer loop and a long rule pocket on the outside of the thigh, where a hand finds them without looking; utility and cargo cuts trade that for deeper, secured storage.

Colours run from black and slate through navy, khaki and bark, all of them better than black at hiding a working day. Take your real waist size throughout Work Pants & Jeans; relaxed refers to the seat and leg, never the waistband.