In high school, my favorite things to wear were my gas-station shirts from the Goodwill store. I could pick up these shirts for about $5. They were comfortable, breathable during the Arkansas summer and were incredibly well made.
Yes, they were all blue (light blue, dark blue, blue with light blue stripes). And they had the former owner’s name and employer stitched to the chest, but there was nothing else to complain about. Pockets? Yes, both sides. They had durable buttons and they were cut long enough for my awkward high-school body. Plus, when I worked at the chair factory or door factory, I didn’t mind if they got messed up – I could easily buy another one for $5.
Last year I decided that I missed my old work shirts, which were swiped by a college girlfriend. Instead of going to a thrift store, I decided to see if I could find an online retailer. I settled on Walt’s Used Workwear. The company offers tons of selection, low prices and quick shipping.
You can find work shirts for as low as $2.50 apiece. You might have to buy six, but at those prices, you might as well buy 12. You can pay extra to have the patches/emblems removed, but why bother?
The shirts arrive clean and broken-in. No stains. In fact, I can’t believe the shirts I received were ever discarded.
I typically wear them over my T-shirts to prevent dyes, glue and other shop nastiness from getting on my street clothes. But honestly, they are so comfortable that I wear them around the house and to our local bar. And hey, if you call me Mike and want me to pump your gas, I’ll do that too. It might be a raise from the woodworking trade.
— Christopher Schwarz
Read other entries from The Anarchist’s Gift Guide here.
I used to wear the same thing in high school! Mine were always grey green though, but yeah they were super comfortable and durable as hell. Lots of photojournalism done in those shirts back then!
It was the thing to do back then! But nobody removed the name tags, that was half the fun! We used to get them from he uniform rental place, if I got a really good one I just assumed that Jim didn’t work there anymore….
I wonder if you’ve ever worn one of mine. They all got sent to Walt’s when I went into WITSEC.
It would be nice to get some workshop attire for January. Does Walt’s have any snowmobile suits?
Gasoline cars are going to disappear soon, better stick to woodworking.
A friend of mine used to go to thrift stores and look for ones that had the most redneck names he could find. That way when he wore them, people would ask “ is your name Jethro/Jed/Billy-Bob etc”
I used to love going to the local used uniform store we had near us. We bought a hat from a local septic system when I was in high school. All the boys in the family fought over who got to wear it.
This might be the dumbest and best suggestion yet.
Nice find.
Can’t wait get home and put in an order.
I love the more snarky tone of this year’s gift guide. Reminds me of one of the best Christmas books of all time: Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
What are they made from? Cotton?
You can order them in 100 percent cotton (which I did). Or in a blend of cotton/poly.
Hey, Chris !
My rant in the comments beneath your post about ‘fancy lads’ contains a snarky-snide-sardonic point about ‘authentic heritage workers clothing’. I stand by that sentiment but would like you to know that it was not made in reference to this post (which I had not yet read at that point). I like cheap (second hand) work clothes, but have you seen some of the ‘vintage boutique’ sites out there ? Astounding !