Bleu de Travail

By: Nicholas Whittle

I’m well behind the menswear trend in finally getting a French moleskin chore coat last fall.

Not that I didn’t want one, but the good ones are vintage or imported or both, and it was hard to justify getting one for a long time, especially when I have plenty of other light jackets.

Finally, after making some room in my closet, I bought a classic French chore coat from Le Laboreur, a company that has been making workwear in France for over 60 years.

In the relatively mild climate of France, thick cotton canvas, twill, or moleskin are useful workwear materials for much of the year.

Canvas was first adopted in the 19th century, standing up to abrasion in factories and on worksites.

Over a couple of insulating layers, canvas can even resist splashing and sparking of hot metals in foundries.

After the First World War, cotton moleskin became economical enough to supplant canvas for the majority of workwear suits produced and worn in France.

But whether canvas or moleskin, these clothes were usually dyed an iconic blue.

In 1704, Berlin chemist Johann Diesbach developed a vivid and inexpensive blue dye which he named after his home state of Prussia.

This Prussian Blue would sweep across the world in the following centuries, and is part of the reason that many emergency services and military formations still wear dark blue uniforms today.

In the late 19th Century, an even cheaper and relatively colorfast dye supplanted Prussian Blue for workwear, particularly in France.

It stood up well to wear, sweat, and sun-fading, and has remained a symbol of labor in France to this day.

The chore coat, in various colors, on a 19th century worksite

The classic bleu de travail (French for working blues) is made in a straight, boxy cut with a hip-length body, shirt-style point collar, and usually three patch pockets on the exterior.

Much like denim workwear, the bleu de travail fades and wears in well, looking better and better as its initial bright hue and almost shiny texture relax over time.

Due to their tough construction, relatively low cost, and simple, flattering cut, these jackets have become extremely fashionable over the past few years.

Chore coats are now a must-have piece for more casual wear, often supplanting the traditional blazer and sport coat.

Alongside canvas barn jackets from Carhartt and L.L. Bean, the moleskin chore coat has become a fairly common sight on city streets, worn with jeans and a t-shirt or flannels and a shirt and tie.

A great exemplar of the easy style of the French chore coat is Bill Cunningham.

Starting out as a hatmaker and clothing designer before moving into writing about fashion, Cunningham was handed a cheap half-frame camera at a party and discovered a love for candid photographs of stylish people.

Cunningham had a keen eye for fashion, which he had honed in the 50s and 60s designing clothing for people like Marilyn Monroe and Jaqueline Kennedy.

His photo columns in the SoHo Weekly News and the New York times have become remarkable chronicles of the changing fashions of New Yorkers in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In contrast, his own style was decidedly minimalist, consisting primarily of a blue moleskin jacket and black sneakers.

Bill Cunningham picked up his first chore coat for very little money at a small shop in Paris, and it came to encapsulate his own style.

It was simple, practical, and hard-wearing, like the series of bicycles he used to travel from one end of Manhattan to the other.

It was also distinctive enough that it became his symbol, and the color blue spread over to heavier winter outerwear that he wore.

My chore coat has ended up being a very useful shoulder-season layer.

The moleskin is practically windproof, and the jacket’s straight cut allows for easy movement while still looking fairly sharp.

Le Laboreur’s design includes a large internal breast pocket which is a requirement for me in a light jacket, serving as a secure home for my phone or wallet.

The roomy patch pockets are perfect to carry a scarf, a notebook, a camera and film, or snacks from the corner store, and the moleskin material holds up well against a light to moderate rain.

The seams are double- or triple-stitched to ensure longevity through whatever work you put them through, whether that’s gardening, carpentry, or street photography.

Le Laboreur remains a family-owned business, and today they don’t just make chore jackets in cotton moleskin and cotton/poly twill.

Their traditional chore coats and work suits come in a broad variety of colors, which have been adopted across various industries as trade markers.

As a true workwear brand, they also make carpenter’s trousers, corduroy work clothing, and even modern double-zip coveralls for heavy industrial labor.

I personally have my eye on their corduroy trousers in the traditional French narrow-cuffed balloon cut known as largeot, and a red wool version of the chore jacket might be an attractive cold weather option.