Workwear: 5 Best Fabrics and Materials You Should Choose
Who wants to feel uncomfortable? Who wants to be sweaty? Who wants to be limited? Who wants to be incapable of stretching? Who wants to have difficulties sitting on a chair or getting in and out of a car or a bus? Who wants to feel unprotected before, while or after working? Probably nobody!
Workwear is about clothing and working; that much is true! Nevertheless, today, workwear means much more than this. The choice of the right workwear is not a choice concerning an 8-hour shift or workday, but a choice concerning a 24/7 uninterrupted comfort.
The importance of Using good quality fabrics
To opt for the best workwear is, primarily, to opt for the best and most suitable fabrics, depending on the nature of your work. Working indoors, well-protected by all the weather’s surprises, permits you to use formal or more casual outfits. Fabrics like linen — shorts, shirts or t-shirts — and wool — trousers or sweaters — are two very practical options for the winter or summer days at the office.
But if your office is the streets and alleys or the endless green fields; fabrics that will keep you warm during the chilly days and cool during the hot ones, are what you should look for. Cotton is the most all-around natural choice, but if you want to go synthetic or semi-synthetic, options like viscose and polyester can be the answers to all the questions posed!
Servicemen (and servicewomen) and all of those that work in construction sites, depots and generally in spaces and sectors where safety is of the utmost importance, need workwear that will ensure a safe workday! Materials like Canvas, Twill or Quilt are used to make this kind of clothing. Being exposed to rain, extremely high or low temperatures, flammable materials or other similar extreme conditions is not to be taken lightly.
The different Kinds of Fabrics Used for Workwear
It is clear that Workwear is such a wide concept, as the sum of all the existing professions. We wouldn’t exaggerate if we said that almost all fabrics are used in the production of top-notch clothing to use at work. Still, if we had to narrow it down a bit, we could say that the fibres used for workwear fall mainly into four categories.
· Natural Fibres
· Polyester
· Polyamide Fibres
And
· High Performance Fibres
It is also very interesting to point out that until 2002 most of the clothes (and consequently workwear) were cotton-made. From then on, synthetic fabrics (mostly polyester) took over! More specifically, today:
· 62% of garments are made with polyester or other synthetic fabrics
· 24% with cotton
· 6% with cellulosics
· 1% with woll
And
· 7% with other types of fabrics.
The Five Best Fabrics to use at work!
- Cotton
Cotton is undoubtedly the king of natural Fabrics. Some of the best work shirts, high quality jeans or the best Chinos and Khakis are made with cotton; suits, Training & Gym and athleisure clothing as well! Use cotton at work. Indoors or outdoors! This fibre has proven its value time and again.
2. Viscose
Viscose has similar qualities with many natural fabrics. It is very versatile, comfortable, anti-wrinkle, durable and has a silk-like touch. A very good choice for Casual and Elegant workwear! T-shirts, shirts, stylish sweaters and all viscose-made clothes can be used every day. Viscose could be your game-changer fabric!
3. Silk (and other Luxury Clothing Fabrics)
There are some professions that luxury…is their middle name! In these cases, silk is one of the most obvious choices. If first impressions matter, there is no better introductory statement than a silk shirt! A silk scarf is also a wonderful detail that will automatically upgrade your whole outfit! Silk is also antiallergenic, perfect to wear during long work days and it will probably prove to be your new anti-stress friend, as its soft, soothing touch is unmatched and it will only comfort you in case any difficulties arise! If it is too cold for silk, check out cashmere; another excellent and luxurious option!
4. Polyester (and Nylon and Spandex!)
Bike messengers, florists, waiters, Yoga and Pilates instructors, professional athletes or tailors that never stop moving and squatting (but at the same time have to be irreproachably dressed) need lightweight workwear that will ensure mobility, warmth, practicality and breathability. Polyester, nylon or spandex and mixtures of these of fabrics, are the best options for professionals who are always on the move! Top performances need top-quality workwear!
5. The Heavy Duty Fabrics
In this category we can find workwear made with polyethylene, leather or with materials like stainless steel and aluminium fibres. People working in healthcare, construction, laboratories or in any type of hazardous environments, don’t need just clothes, but armour-type garments. Strength and comfort must co-exist!
And let’s not forget about the divers and other professionals, working everyday submerged in lakes and oceans. Neoprene, a synthetic rubber, is another fabric used to produce high-performing workwear!
The best Fabrics for Business and Office environments
Who is willing to say that office work or sitting behind a reception desk is not challenging and demanding? To be flexible and able to move freely in all directions is key for a productive day at the office. Business workwear must combine elegance with a sense of ease, but it must also be versatile! Versatility will also give you the advantage to create different and inspired outfits every weekday, without having to buy new clothes every weekend.
So, if indoors-office-environments are your labour terrains, opt for soft, elastic fabrics, like:
· Cotton — maybe the best choice for button-up shirts and easy-going Chinos!
· Wool (merino and alpaca are excellent choices, although a bit pricey) for impeccable lightweight sweaters!
Or opt for revolutionary fabrics like
· The Dockers® Smart 360 Flex™ and Supreme Flex™ that have brought to us all a new kind of flexibility!
What is Sustainable Workwear?
Sustainable Fabrics and Eco-friendly Methods!
Being stylish has always been a plus! An elegant outfit won’t only be the reflection of your most elegant self, it will also help you unlock the gates that lead to great possibilities and a brighter future. Nobody was ever accused of being too dapper! Today though, being stylish and elegant is also to be aligned and in-sync with our environment’s exigencies!
Sustainability is something that we must deeply integrate both in our way of thinking and dressing! Today, the options of sustainable fabrics are –too — many! The whole of the fashion industry has been revolutionised by the emergence of eco-friendly fabrics! From organic and recycled cotton to Qmilk, cork or vegan leather; there is surely a sustainable fabric that will cover your workwear needs.
Workwear is not just clothing meant for working. Workwear consists of garments that you put on before breakfast and you take off after dinner! To choose the right workwear, is to choose the best (and most sustainable) lifewear!
