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- Jan 2, 2013
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Let's chat about workwear, because workwear isn't dead!
Engineered Garments
Engineered Garments has a long history with StyleForum: back when we were a baby website with just a few dozen posters and a much uglier interface (and much less relevant advertising), Engineered Garments was a forum darling which took the time to team up with SF to create a special quick-release buckle belt. Today, Daiki's clothes are everywhere, and while he isn't behind the helm at WMM anymore, what he produces each season is still amazing, and the brand as a whole has evolved away from the strict (maybe boring?) workwear it used to be. When we talk about workwear, though, this is where you should start.
Needles/Nepenthes and More
Nepenthes is a New York-based clothing store which is the American center of awesome Japanese workwear brands. They stock a lot of Engineered Garments (and run the American distribution for the brand), but they also carry some of the more obscure labels which mine from that same vein (get it, it's a workwear pun), including Needles, Rough and Tumble and south2west8. Needles deserves special praise - the brand is at its best when they take vintage clothing - flight jackets, flannels - and 'Rebuild' them into unique, combination clothes which look awesome.
Nigel Cabourn
Nigel Cabourn specializes in British workwear: where EG works from American military clothes, Cabourn works from's from British history - and he might be the best designer for British workwear out there. Sure other brands do what he does (and at lower cost), but his commitment to reproducing vintage styles - including vintage fits - and working with the best local, English fabrics and textiles is worthy of note. And if I had to only wear one heavyduty winter coat for the rest of my life, a Cabourn Everest parka would be the obvious, no brainer pick. If you want to learn about how workwear can move beyond it's narrow popular definition - the J. Crew version - start here.
Engineered Garments
Engineered Garments has a long history with StyleForum: back when we were a baby website with just a few dozen posters and a much uglier interface (and much less relevant advertising), Engineered Garments was a forum darling which took the time to team up with SF to create a special quick-release buckle belt. Today, Daiki's clothes are everywhere, and while he isn't behind the helm at WMM anymore, what he produces each season is still amazing, and the brand as a whole has evolved away from the strict (maybe boring?) workwear it used to be. When we talk about workwear, though, this is where you should start.
Needles/Nepenthes and More
Nepenthes is a New York-based clothing store which is the American center of awesome Japanese workwear brands. They stock a lot of Engineered Garments (and run the American distribution for the brand), but they also carry some of the more obscure labels which mine from that same vein (get it, it's a workwear pun), including Needles, Rough and Tumble and south2west8. Needles deserves special praise - the brand is at its best when they take vintage clothing - flight jackets, flannels - and 'Rebuild' them into unique, combination clothes which look awesome.
Nigel Cabourn
Nigel Cabourn specializes in British workwear: where EG works from American military clothes, Cabourn works from's from British history - and he might be the best designer for British workwear out there. Sure other brands do what he does (and at lower cost), but his commitment to reproducing vintage styles - including vintage fits - and working with the best local, English fabrics and textiles is worthy of note. And if I had to only wear one heavyduty winter coat for the rest of my life, a Cabourn Everest parka would be the obvious, no brainer pick. If you want to learn about how workwear can move beyond it's narrow popular definition - the J. Crew version - start here.
