Disclaimer: Rest assured, this article will not be the subject of yet another history on workwear. Indeed, recently, our collaborator and friend Milone (a real encyclopedia) wrote two excellent articles on workwear, addressing its history and its influences on our contemporary wardrobe.
This article aims instead to introduce you to the Dickies workwear brand . I will go into detail later, but Dickies represents a real alternative to the Carhartt juggernaut, and offers products with excellent value for money.
History of the Dickies brand: from real workwear to Californian street culture
The story of Dickies is very special. Before testing the brand, we will take a look back at its evolution.
Today, the brand offers two complete ranges of clothing: workwear and streetwear. It has also become, without initially intending to do so, an iconic streetwear brand on the American west coast.
The Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company (aka Dickies)
It all began in 1918, in Bryan, Texas. That year, CN Williamson and EE "Colonel" Dickie decided to join forces to set up a business of "vehicles with harness" (understand by this, "cart" pulled by horses) and hats.
Also in the same year, they began selling their first work clothing by creating the US Overall Company . In 1922, the two partners renamed the company the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company .
The first real product branded "Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company" was "simple but durable" overalls, which met with great success, and which encouraged the two partners to develop a complete range of work clothing under the Dickies brand name.
The brand is making a reputation for quality, durable products loaded with “work” value. It's simple but effective: it was necessary to make the worker proud of his work and his status, and this was achieved through clothing.
A brand DNA which allowed it to resist the Great Depression (the crisis of 1929), since between 1930 and 1935, the brand's turnover doubled. Better still, to ensure clothing production, Dickies employs 250 new workers. These hires are financially possible because the shareholders refuse to pay themselves a salary.
During the Second World War, like many other companies, the company was requisitioned to produce numerous uniforms for the American armed forces (Dickies would have produced more than 9 million during the entire conflict).
US Army forces pose proudly in front of a Dickies truck... Patriotic spirit!
At the end of the conflict, Dickies confirmed its status as an essential workwear brand for all workers . Its legendary “matched suit” is omnipresent, and confirms the reputation of the brand.
It was in this post-war period that Mr. Williamson decided to accelerate the development of the brand: creation of new production tools, warehouses, acceleration of the distribution policy... His objective: to conquer the world with the geographic expansion of its brand.
Dickies advertisement for the famous "matched suit".
Thus, by the 1950s, the company was well established in Europe and the Middle East, where Texan oil companies chose Dickies to dress their employees working on oil platforms and fields.
Admit that this photo makes you want to become a business manager in civil engineering, to dress your employees in custom Dickies outfits...
Dickies is today the world leader in the distribution of “branded” workwear clothing. That is, any company can work with the brand on the development of a work uniform. Starting from a Dickies base, and customizing it with embroidery, for example.
We could talk about the history of the brand for a long time. I therefore advise you to watch the ten-minute video at the top of this article, which will give you more details.
Dickies, street culture and the American West Coast...
For my part, I discovered the Dickies brand during my college years. At the same time as I discovered Californian hip-hop, I discovered a style of clothing very distinct from what was seen at the time in this environment: pants and shirt of the same color/material, shorts worn with high socks, abandoning Nike/Adidas/Reebok/Puma sneakers to wear Converse...
Only their fairly loose cuts linked them to what we traditionally saw in hip-hop/streetwear circles.
Wide pants worn below the buttocks, Converse on the feet... No doubt, it's Californian streetwear.
The famous Dickies set: cotton canvas pants and shirt in the same color... As Luca would say, it's "color block" (sorry for the poor quality of the photo...).
The rapper The Game, on the cover of his legendary album "The Documentary" (in 2005), poses with his Dickies cotton canvas pants and his Converse (these two brands alone characterize Californian streetwear of that era). He will do it again on the cover of his album The Doctor's Advocate (in 2006).
You can see the small Dickies label (in the middle of the right leg of the pants).
In summer, the style is even more distinctive: Dickies shorts and exposed socks.
What's really interesting is to see that people belonging to the street culture movement didn't wait for Dickies to offer "fashion" and "streetwear" oriented collections to wear them. They simply re-appropriated work clothing, which they integrated into their daily look.
The brand therefore wanted to take advantage of this trend, and gradually began to offer full-fledged streetwear collections. These are based on the same fundamentals as the workwear range: innovation, quality, durability.
Above all, their "streetwear" line is offered at extremely attractive prices: in terms of style, it's Carhartt, but much cheaper. The quality/price ratio is therefore excellent!
Cotton flannel shirts start at 55 euros!
This camouflage parka is 119 euros (I find the camo well balanced, and not at all crude)!
This man breathing the pure air offered by Mother Nature is wearing a down jacket costing 109 euros. Unbeatable.
Even today, the brand clearly distinguishes these two universes which coexist, and which are part of its DNA. When you go to the Dickies website, two sections are highlighted: streetwear and workwear.
Streetwear or Workwear... Choose your side!
Test of the streetwear brand Dickies and the “1922” collection
This test will focus on the “Dickies 1922” line, entirely “Made in USA”. It uses period models that the brand searched deep in its archives, and which it had produced in its own production facilities in Texas (in Uvalde precisely).
This is a “capsule” collection available all the time. It must be clearly differentiated from the traditional streetwear collection which follows the logical cycle of a brand, with two collections per year (spring/summer and autumn/winter). Also note that the price of parts is higher.
Even in terms of style, this capsule collection differs. While Dickies' traditional streetwear collections offer contemporary silhouettes, with slimmer cuts and a style very close to what Carhartt does, the 1922 collection offers looser clothing. Quite simply because they correspond to the cuts of the time (the brand has used the archive patterns).
I would like to warn you now: you should not expect to see well “fitted” chinos with a leg opening of 16.5 cm, shirts “without excess material at the shoulders”, or a jacket with a shoulder head that starts in the right place.
And that's precisely what I found interesting: wearing pieces with larger volumes than usual, for a very particular visual result. An overall silhouette that we're not necessarily used to seeing anymore, but which remains easily "wearable" on a daily basis.
Finally, I find the materials much more interesting in this collection: jeans in selvedge canvas from Cone Denim, shirt in Japanese selvedge chambray, very thick cotton twill canvas...
To carry out this test, I chose a complete outfit: a shirt, chinos and a jacket. So I'm going to go through each of these pieces.
The “Truck Driver Jacket” (139 euros)
This is surely the piece whose cut will destabilize you the most. The jacket takes the shape of a bomber: it is quite short, and there is excess material at the shoulders (as Benoit would say: " with that you can play a game of volleyball easily! ").
This particular cut results in an armhole placed quite low. Don't look for the seam at your shoulder bone, it's instead in the middle of your bicep. In addition, with such a short jacket, you don't have to be afraid of seeing your clothes sticking out (for my part, I appreciate the visual effect that this gives).
The button placket is quite practical: you can roll up the sleeves of the jacket and play up the workwear style to the fullest.
I really like the collar of the jacket, which takes the shape of a classic shirt collar. Worn with a shirt underneath, the superposition of the collars gives an interesting visual result.
By touching the ends of the collar, we even feel the presence of a whale (non-removable).
Detail: the gold-colored YKK zip, branded Dickies, will withstand your many manipulations.
On the practical side, the two patch pockets are practical for storing your everyday belongings (also note that there is an interior pocket).
Patch pockets with flaps.
Interior patch pocket, large enough to slip in a smartphone.
Concerning the material, we are dealing here with a cotton twill: classic but effective (and resistant!). Be careful, the material still has a tendency to collect dust.
Please note: this is an unlined jacket. I therefore advise you to wear it in the summer, when the mercury rises (over a shirt or sweatshirt, it's the best!).
The jacket is available here.
The Japanese selvedge chambray shirt (149 euros)
Certainly the piece that I like the most. A classic workwear shirt with two patch pockets. The interest of this piece lies in the material: a chambray selvage from Japan. Ultimate purist detail: Dickies has left the edging visible in several strategic places.
Selvedge edging all around the inside cuff.
Selvedge edging at the level of the swallow.
Reinforcement patch on the buttons of the two patch pockets of the shirt (with red edging!). Also note the presence of a pocket pen, a typical workwear detail.
This is a fairly rare practice, because it causes the factory to have a lot more loss of material when it is cut. This therefore has a direct impact on the cost of manufacturing the shirt. Generally, brands that want to “make an effort” are content to leave it at the swallow level.
Another nice detail: the button placket and buttonholes are reinforced.
Finally, a purely stylistic detail: the contrasting collar with a gingham check interior (the same one found on the swallow and the reinforcement patch).
The cut is not fitted. It suits me perfectly: I can easily slip a white t-shirt underneath (Dickies t-shirt for the occasion, I'll come back to that later).
The shirt is available here.
The “1948 work pant” chino pants (129 euros)
You're going to tell me that I wear chinos all the time. You won't be wrong, because I've clearly gotten used to their comfort. But here, these chinos are full of history...
In the material of these pants, no elastane, we are using a very thick and heavy 100% cotton twill (incomparable compared to other chinos). To be more precise, it is a Cramerton canvas , the same material as the chinos of US Army soldiers during the Second World War (material developed by the Cramerton Mills company, and initially 8.2 oz).
The cut of the pants is wide, "baggy" type. However, unless you are a skinny fit diehard, the pants are still easy to wear. I strongly advise you to only wear it with sneakers. For the rest, you can apply the usual assembly “codes”.
This is an example of a simple workwear outfit to wear: a shirt with the sleeves rolled up and chinos. You see, the wide cut is not shocking.
Leg opening: 19 cm. I advise you to only wear sneakers.
Regarding the details, we find: reinforcement points marked at the ends of the side pockets, wide belt loops, very thick pocket bags, and the left rear pocket which is buttoned.
Chino pants are available here.
The t-shirt (30 euros for a pack of 3) and the hat (15 euros)
These are the two pieces in this review that are not part of the Dickies 1922 line.
Regarding the t-shirt, this one is very workwear inspired. This results in a straight cut, with long sleeves, and a thick ribbing at the collar.
Looking closer, you will see that the ribbing is quite thick at the collar.
I am totally against wearing a t-shirt under a shirt, except in a workwear look, where you should not hesitate. You can also wear it as a simple plain t-shirt (in this case, don't hesitate to roll up the sleeves).
The material is good, in 100% cotton (160 gr/m2), without being exceptional.
As the sleeves are a little long, don't hesitate to roll them up!
This t-shirt is sold in a pack of 3 for the price of 30 euros. It is therefore a good choice for those who want to stock up on basics.
Finally, if you're tired of seeing Carhartt beanies everywhere, the Dickies beanie is a good alternative. At 15 euros, it is obviously 100% acrylic. But it fulfills its function.
Note from Geoffrey: I totally advise against clothing in this material, which is often itchy and does not offer the same result as equivalents in cotton or wool (which will not ruin you though).
The t-shirt pack is available here , and the hat here (note, the khaki color is no longer available, but you have the choice among interesting two-tone models).
Conclusion: Dickies, a real streetwear offer, with real value for money
When Benoit suggested I do the Dickies test, I immediately remembered the outfits worn by rappers from the American West Coast. So I was curious to see how the brand had evolved.
I was very pleasantly surprised. For those looking for pieces with a streetwear look, I highly recommend taking a look at the traditional streetwear collection on the Dickies website. The pieces are very well priced and the quality is there.
For those who want to go a little further, the 1922 collection made in the USA is great, but you will need to have a larger budget.
