The Carhartt Guide

Carhartt workwear was built for the job site, from heavy duck canvas and denim with triple stitching.

This guide covers what matters when buying pre-owned Carhartt: the history, the difference between Carhartt and Carhartt WIP, how to read the tags, how the items are cut and which garments stand out. The chapters can be read in order or used to jump to a specific topic.

A short history

Hamilton Carhartt started the company in Detroit in 1889 with two sewing machines and a handful of employees, making bib overalls for railroad workers. The brief was simple, “honest value for an honest dollar”, and the materials matched it: heavy brown duck canvas and denim, triple stitching and rivets at the stress points. The chore coat was in the range by 1917, and much of what Carhartt makes today traces directly back to those early workwear patterns.

Carhartt or Carhartt WIP?

The first thing to settle is whether an item is Carhartt or Carhartt WIP, as they are two different companies that share a name and a history.

Carhartt is the original American workwear brand, with roomy, heavy items built for the job site. Carhartt WIP (Work In Progress) is the European line. It has been run under licence since the late 1980s and was formally established in 1994 by Edwin Faeh, and it redesigns the same silhouettes for the street with slimmer cuts, seasonal colours and collaborations.

The label shows the difference: “Carhartt”, often with “Made in USA”, is the American line, and “Carhartt WIP” is the European one. The full breakdown is in the article on the difference between Carhartt and Carhartt WIP, and each line has its own collection: Carhartt and Carhartt WIP.

Reading the tags

The neck and care tags are a clear way to place a Carhartt item in time. Wording, country of manufacture and tag design all shifted over the years. The framework below is a starting point, and the finer details should be confirmed against a trusted reference before a date is treated as certain.

Hardware is a useful cross-check: genuine items use solid, well-finished zips, rivets and buttons with a noticeable weight.

Sizing and cut

Carhartt is cut to be worn over other clothing and runs roomy by design. The size on the label alone says little about the cut, so every item is stated with flat measurements.

Measuring a jacket that already fits well and comparing it to the stated measurements shows how a new jacket will wear. The four measurements are chest, shoulders, length and sleeve.

Heavy duck canvas, triple stitching and rivets at the stress points.

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Items worth knowing

Several Carhartt items stand out: the Detroit jacket, the chore coat, the Active hooded jacket, double-knee work trousers and the classic bib overalls. The Detroit jacket is covered in detail in the guide to the Detroit jacket. The current selection is available for men and women, and the wider workwear edit is also available.

How items are prepared

Every item is authenticated through LegitApp before it reaches the store, then professionally cleaned, steamed, measured and photographed individually. Signs of wear are shown in the photographs and described in the text.

How to style it

Carhartt items are designed to be practical: a Detroit jacket over a hoodie with straight denim, a chore coat over a knit and double-knee trousers with boots. Relaxed proportions suit the items and let them do the work. More trousers are available in the bottoms collection.

Sources

1. Carhartt · company history: 1889 founding in Detroit, bib overalls, duck canvas, and the chore coat from 1917.
2. Carhartt WIP · history: European licence from the late 1980s; Carhartt WIP formally established in 1994 by Edwin Faeh.