Woolrich

Workwear for Heroes

I love workwear. I've loved it all my life, and I seek out the very best. I have jackets, boots and shirts which are in good nick after ten, fifteen - even twenty years. I like clothes which might cost a bit more but which I know will last, and which will stand any fickle change in the moody wind of fashion. Woolrich are one of the brands I have been going back to since I was a small boy. I want to tell you about how my love affair with the brand started, and why you should invest in some of their seminal pieces.

I spent part of my childhood in the redwoods of northern California. There were two types of people in the tiny hamlet we lived in: loggers and beatniks. We were of the latter, but my clothes were influenced by both. I loved the loggers checked flannel shirts and seriously heavy straight-legged jeans. It was at a general store in Santa Rosa that I first came across Pendleton shirts and RedWing Boots. And it was at this same store that my mum bought me my first Woolrich jacket.

I had seen Woolrich jackets on the loggers who stomped into the Redwood Bar, where my brother and our friends would sneak in to play the shooting game and sneakily buy Marlboros if we had enough pocket money. Mainly the men wore stag shirts and tailgating jackets in that classic red-and-black check, but there was one jacket which I had to have, and not just because a bunch of lumberjacks wore it: the classic wool fieldcoat. And it was Marlon Brando who proved the tipping point.

When I first saw the film On the Waterfront I became obsessed with a few things. I was an obsessive little kid. I became obessed with Marlon Brando, to the extent that I learrned all the words to the famous scene in the back of the car with his brother Charlie. "Wasn't my night? Wasn't my night?" If you haven't seen On the Waterfront, shame on you. You can watch that little scene here if you like. It'll only take a few minutes and Brando is wearing his jacket. I also became obsessed with boxing. And I noted with glee that Brando wore a classic Woolrich wool fieldcoat.

I began to watch out for great outdoor clothing in movies and on people i admired. The great beat writer Jack Kerouac always wore great clothes: check shirts and heavy boots, chinos.

Jack Nicholson wore Woolrich in Five Easy Pieces.

I have to this day a red-and-black vintage jacket which I look foward to pulling on every Autumn.

Woolrich continue to make superb clothes: the Arctic Parka is a thing not only of great beauty, but also of very high quality: the freeze-proof Coyote fur collar was developed for workers on the Alaskan pipeline, as was the real down lining and the cloth-lined hand-warmer pockets.

Other items live up to this high standard: the American Birdseye jumper looks great and is heavy and warm without being uncomfortable. And the new plaid shirts look set to move the brand on while sticking to traditional values.

Woolrich USA sadly don't ship to the UK, but check them out for a comprehensive look at the range. For Europe and stockists go HERE.