Chore Coats

A workwear jacket with a boxy body, three or four patch pockets, a flat collar and a straight hem finishing at the hip. It came from French railway and farm work, where the pockets held tools and the cut allowed movement. It sits between a shirt jacket and a proper coat in both weight and formality.

A chore coat is heavier, has patch pockets and a flat collar, and reads as outerwear. A shacket is lighter with a shirt collar and reads as a heavy shirt. If you want one layer that works alone in autumn, take the chore coat. If you want something to wear under a coat, take the shacket.

In anywhere that accepts a casual jacket, yes, particularly in a muted sett or a plain heavy cotton over a collared shirt. It reads more considered than a shacket and less formal than a blazer. Patch pockets are what mark it as workwear, so if your office is strict, a tartan blazer is the safer choice.

A plain tee, a shirt or a fine knit, all in solid colours. The coat carries the pattern, so a tartan shirt underneath is one sett too many. Dark denim or plain trousers below and boots rather than formal shoes. In cold weather a heavier jumper works, provided the coat was sized with room for it.

Roomy, since the cut is boxy by design and it is meant to layer. It should close over a jumper without pulling across the back, and the sleeve should reach the wrist bone with the arm bent. Send chest, shoulder and body length, and say what you expect to wear underneath so the allowance is right.

Heavy cotton for the plain versions and premium acrylic woven to the sett for the tartan ones. Both take hard wear and repeated washing. Cotton will soften and lighten slightly over years of sun and washing, which on a workwear cut is an improvement rather than a fault. Wash cool and hang to dry.