Clothing > Shirts
Best Work Shirts for Men: 9 Tough Brands for the Job
Some menswear staples, especially the ones rooted in real-life elbow grease and hard work, tend to look good in nearly any situation (formal ones aside, of course). The best work shirts certainly qualify, and a host of companies could also qualify as the best work shirt brands for men.
- Character and courage: Workshirts have served many purposes through the years, be it on the backs of soldiers in unforgiving climates or in grueling weather – many are still made the same way.
- A modern icon: Plenty of the best work shirt brands still make their offerings with largely the same fabric and design as decades ago, giving them reliability and functionality you can trust.
- Fortitude and fabrication: Look for work shirt brands that make their shirts from hard-wearing fabrics like cotton canvas, canvas blends with stretch and plain old cotton – they can withstand the toughest conditions.
Made from good old-fashioned, tough-as-nails fabric like cotton and cotton canvas, these pieces serve a dual-fold purpose: The easy layering ability of a buttondown shirt, combined with the hefty weight of a rugged work jacket. In my experience, the best workshirts are an easy piece to throw on and forget – they can handle anything.
Beyond that, they just look plain great when styled more casually for off-duty occasions (Think: Your favorite henley and expertly worn-in blue jeans).
For each and every time you need to get down to business, trust these brands.
For more than 100 years, Dickies has delivered some of the most rugged goods on the market, including zip-up jackets trusted by the U.S. military. Whether back in the garage or out in the field, its consistent designs, durable materials and exceptional fabric still hold water today – they’re also my preferred work shirt brand of choice.
Dickies
Dickies work shirts run the gamut, covering just about any situation imaginable – from hot summer days doing lawn work to bitterly cold mornings tinkering around in the garage.
Opt for a range of hard-working short-sleeve T-shirts, short-sleeve buttondowns and characteristically tough long-sleeve cotton-canvas buttondowns.
TrueWerk
When it’s time to get down to business, you very well might want to reach for a TrueWerk work shirt.
Its shirts feature thoughtful details like built-in sun protection, helpful stretch and relaxed fits for layering and additional coverage where you need it the most. Plus, its product lineup covers every season and temperature imaginable.
Red Kap
It’s amazing what the best work shirt brands dream up, at least in my experience.
Durability is the name of the game with Red Kap, from the pit crew out into the field and back into the kitchen.
Red Kap work shirts cover every scenario, using moisture-wicking fabric and a wide array of long-sleeve and short-sleeve designs.
Wrangler
You might argue that cotton denim was the original workwear fabric (I certainly believe that’s the case), and there’s hardly a more iconic name than Wrangler when it comes to the material.
Its jeans are the stuff of legend, while its Western-style and work shirts come in fabrics ranging from durable denim to stretch canvas and cotton.
Wolverine
Michigan summers and winters demand the toughest materials on the market, and Wolverine has long excelled at the demands of both seasons (and then some).
Wolverine work shirts are trusted by factory workers, paving crews and plenty more, with the performance and rugged durability to back up – not unlike the company’s legendary footwear.
Carhartt
The best work shirt brands set the bar quite high, but Carhartt meets that standard easily – and then keeps on going. At least, that’s been my experience wearing the brand’s gear on cold Michigan mornings and hot summer days.
Its work shirts are packed with oversized pockets, comfortable yet strong fabrication and plenty of utility from sunrise to sunset.
Patagonia
Patagonia appears to consistently be challenging itself when it comes to eco-conscious materials and next-level performance.
That approach holds true with summer-ready pieces like its swim shorts and moisture-wicking T-shirts, but don’t discount its tough-as-nails work shirts, made with proprietary stretch canvas fabric.
Ariat
Western style might be all the rage these days, from the runways out into the real world, but few brands exude an authentic approach quite like Ariat.
The famed boot brand designed an entire lineup of too-good-to-be-true work shirts made with its own stretch fabric in a full lineup of sizes (Big and Tall offerings included).
5.11 Tactical
There’s no telling what might come across your path in the field, and 5.11 Tactical takes the approach that preparation makes perfect.
Its work shirts feature extra pockets, plenty of room to move and incredibly innovative fabrication that blends the modern with the old-school – from shirt jackets to T-shirts, 5.11 Tactical delivers.
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