A French workwear jacket that isn't French: the herringbone twill chore jacket.

The herringbone twill chore jacket, easily spottable with its chevron shapes and unique fades has been seen worn by high profile celebrities in recent times. The photos of Jacob Elordi, Jeremy Allen White and others have been shared over and over and described as a celebration of the French vintage chore jacket, as an illustration of the garment going into the mainstream.

Jeremy Allen White and Jacob Elordi wearing their not French at all herringbone twill chore jackets.

Here at the French Workwear Company we love them as much as the classic Bugatti blue pieces, but these herringbone twill (HBT) jackets are actually not French at all, they're German.

Industry, crafts and farming all expanded during the 20th century across Europe and workers needed protective wear. The blue chore jacket is not a French monopoly, other countries have their own version.

Germany started to use 'Drillich' ie herringbone twill cotton for its military garments from the early 20th century. Military wear and workwear inform each other, and are often manufactured by the same suppliers. The HBT fabric was therefore also widely used for workwear garments.

Here you can see the chevron shape for herringbone twill and the location of the extra stitching on the lower part of the pocket.

As well as the twill, there are major differences between French and German workwear that we will point out here:

The dye used is of a duller colour (distinct from your French Bugatti blue workwear), blue still, but going towards the grey or dark blue. The dye fades quicker and not in a consistent way (not always in any case), which can create beautiful fades and graded shades all over the pieces, which contemporary customers love.

The weight of the workwear fabric: The fabric is notably lighter, thinner than the French chore jackets.

The overall cut is simpler, with no cuffs, the collar is smaller, simpler than the French round collar - the French garments are more tailored, they give the feel of a higher quality.

Another notable difference from the classic French piece is the pockets - your French pockets are reinforced with extra fabric and/or stitching on the upper part of the jacket, whilst German pockets have extra stitching across the lower part. The German jackets will almost always have a handy locker loop, hardly ever found on the other side of the Rhine.

All these elements give the vintage German HBT chore jacket a more relaxed, simpler look. It feels more like a 'shacket' (we relunctantly use this word) that is great for layering.

Many fans of vintage clothing care about provenance. Post-war, Germany is divided into two countries and garments are made on both sides of the iron curtain. Not produced for exports, they served local markets, hence the monolingual labels - 'Baumwolle', 'coton' (in our globalised world, today's care labels run in many languages). East German garments stayed within Eastern Europe and can be distinguished through their labels and sometimes cut, but this is yet another story. Read our post about this subject matter here.

Vintage workwear clothes illustrate our social history, they are stylish, hard-wearing and comfortable, and here at The French Workwear Company we sell mainly French, but also German and European workwear, and we enjoy bringing you pieces from different countries.

Find current HBT jackets currently on sale via The French Workwear Company here.

Article from the Pre-Loved blog how to How to Identify Authentic Vintage French Chore Coats (with our guide)

PS: Nerdy point of interest: you will find some older French HBT jacket in a white or off-white shade for painters, same weight as typical French jackets. At the time of writing we also have an amazing hunting jacket in HBT.