A Love Letter to Utility Fashion

By: Ella Maniatis

My favorite clothing item since the age of fifteen has been my pair of key overalls. They have pockets for pens and protractors and a loop for a hammer; they are easily my most enduring fashion choice. I recently wore these beautiful overalls on a trip to the Poughkeepsie post office. Almost as soon as I entered the room, an elderly man in line exclaimed how much he loved seeing the youths of today wearing overalls. He was a really delightful person to talk to. He told me all about his jobs growing up where overalls were his favorite attire to work in, he told me about his wife and how she’d love to have seen my outfit but hadn’t come to the post office with him that day, and then told me she’d be yelling at him for being this talkative. He asked me about college and insisted I cut him in line once I said I was going to my first ever english class in a little bit. We bought the same Strega Nona themed stamps.

This interaction has had me thinking about utility fashion and how special it is to my heart. I love seeing people wearing carhartt pants so stained with paint and oil from whichever carpenter or painter wore them before and made them soft and worn through enough for everyday use. I like seeing 50+ year old Republican men and teenage girls shopping for the same deer hunting pants in the Cabela’s. I love those military liner jackets that look like a duvet you’d buy from Urban Outfitters. I love fishing vests over a girly little blouse. I’m obsessed with extra tall Hunter rain boots in sunny weather. Utility fashion sticks out. It gets noticed, admired, it confuses people—it's just so COOL. I also love how when it comes to these items, wear is associated with higher value. I see so many pairs of carhartt pants—stained and ripped to the nines—selling for twice the price of a new pair. It's partially ridiculous but also how exciting is it that well-loved things can be so much more desired by young people than what is new. It’s something that comes along with the popularity of thrifted and vintage clothing, I’d imagine. Also, these fashion trends are not limited to streetstyle—they’re in so many recent designer lines. Jean Paul Gautier’s runway looks are steeped with takes on military uniforms, Diesel’s with cargo everything and combat boots, Prada with sheer waterproofed jumpsuits, and these are just a few examples. There’s an irony to clothes which are meant to be useful being turned into runway pieces, but also how great is it that practicality has become so idealized?

Utility fashion shows love for what is useful and long lasting, as well as appreciation for sustainability. Clothes which were designed to be worked in will withstand the wear of time, always be in style because of their practicality, and bring dissimilar people to consensus over their wonderfulness. I love my overalls, and I love buying matching stamps with the people who love them too.