Originally designed for, well, chores, specifically conducted by French workers through the 19th century, the chore jacket’s appeal has always been in its simple yet effective design. They typically arrive with a sturdy outer layer – made from denim, cotton, or moleskin – a handful of useful pockets scattered across the chest, and a fit that’s suitable to layer over the top of a tee or even a denim shirt.
At its most basic, it’s a practical addition to the Australian wardrobe; at its most stylish (largely owing to the cheap indigo dye that was used to colour them) it can somehow make even the most mundane Tuesday morning look a little more considered. So, here they are: the best chore jackets you can buy in Australia for these colder Spring days.
R. M. Williams Hedley Moleskin Jacket
Now, R.M. Williams didn't invent the chore jacket, but it's hard to think of a brand better positioned to make the Australian case for a local hero with its Hedley Moleskin jacket, carrying many of the enduring hallmarks of the original French design, minus the loud colourway.
Unlined and cut in a regular fit from organic cotton moleskin, it comes with handy pockets, branded buttons, and a colourway that will only look better as the moleskin breaks in and takes on its own patina.
$399 at rmwilliams.com.au
Christian Kimber Fitzroy Chore Jacket
If there's a single piece that explains why Christian Kimber keeps getting named among the best menswear labels this country produces, it's the Fitzroy.
Made in Portugal from 100% Italian cotton and garment-dyed after construction rather than before, the Melbourne brand says the colour settles into the fabric and seams in a way conventional dyeing simply can't replicate – so no two jackets age quite the same.
It’s another stellar release from Christian Kimber, finished with natural horn buttons and generous flap pockets so you can still actually use it as intended – for work. Not that you ever would, of course.
$595 at christiankimber.com
Le Mont Saint Michel Genuine Work Jacket Blue
If you want to go back to where all of this started, here it is: Le Mont Saint Michel’s Genuine Work Jacket (in the classic French blue), as true as the original cuts first produced in 1913 in a durable moleskin fabric and cut in the familiar three-pocket shape.
Nothing here has been needlessly reinterpreted or softened for the modern wardrobe, either. So as the chore trend no doubt moves on to the next, you’ll have a more timeless edge. Everything else on this list is, to some extent, a version of this jacket. This is the jacket.
$465 at maplestore.com.au
Levi's® Men's Berkley Chore Coat
You can't run a chore jacket list without the brand that's been making denim workwear since before the category had a name.
The Berkley is the Levi’s take on the French classic, cut in a relaxed fit and in the American brand’s premium denim. The most dependable pick here if you'd rather not think too hard about the decision.
$199.95 at levis.com.au
Kloke Protocol Coverall
Kloke's take swaps the traditional button-front silhouette for what the Melbourne label describes as its reinterpretation of the classic Baker's coverall, which certainly gives this piece its own USP if you’re worried about spotting the same jacket on everyone else walking through Fitzroy.
Cut from 100% cotton with a two-piece sleeve and flat-felled seams for durability, a built-in collar, and both internal and external patch pockets.
Kloke pitches it as lightweight outerwear built specifically for summer, which makes it one of the more literally spring-appropriate pieces on this list rather than an awkward hangover from the winter jacket season.
$349 at kloke.com.au
Drake’s French Blue Heavy Twill Cotton Five-Pocket Chore Jacket
Leave it to a British menswear institution to take a French work jacket and make it feel entirely at home in a London wardrobe – I imagine this is the one that Theo James’ character in The Gentlemen would wear were he ever to tend to the vegetable patch in his garden.
Drake’s has spent decades at the forefront of timeless trends, and the brand’s heavy twill chore jacket is no exception: three outer pockets, plus Drake’s signature ticket pocket peeking out on the left, a single internal pocket and rivet buttons.
Also made in Portugal from 100% cotton, the jacket’s signature French Blue colour only makes the case stronger, particularly as the fabric starts to soften and pick up some character.
$975 at drakes.com
A.PRESSE Vintage Denim Chore Jacket
So, if the French designed it, and the British found a way to make it feel somewhat rakish, the Japanese perfected the art of obsessing over the finer details of the humble chore jacket, taking something that we all feel like we know so well, pulling it apart, and rebuilding it.
The Vintage Denim Chore Jacket takes its cues from old American coveralls, but takes on A.PRESSE qualities, like irregular yarns that give the denim this uniquely uneven texture of vintage fabric.
The silhouette is deliberately vintage, too, with a slightly cropped body, soft A-line shape and asymmetric pocket arrangement. It is, in other words, exactly the sort of thing the Japanese do exceptionally well.
$1,050 at ec.apresse.jp
Flux The Chore Coat
Flux has been designing and making its clothing out of a Collingwood studio since 1999, which makes it one of the very few genuinely Australian-made pieces here rather than Australian-designed and made elsewhere.
The Royal Blue colourway is the standout: a proper workwear blue that only gets better with wear, the same way the label's denim does.
$239 at flux.com
Alex Mill Garment Dyed Work Jacket
The Americans have a particular talent for giving new life to established cuts, and Alex Mill's Garment Dyed Work Jacket is a particularly good example.
The New York label calls it a "Hall-of-Famer" in its own range, taking inspiration from a beloved vintage find and made from sturdy 50/50 recycled cotton and cotton denim for durability and comfort. It takes its cues from the original design and aesthetic, and the brand has even gone through the laborious job of garment-dying its jacket for an even deeper colour and finish.
$435 at alexmill.com
Le Laboureur Work Jacket
Heading well and truly into if you know, you know territory with this next one: Le Laboureur Work Jacket, a small, family-owned brand out of Digoin in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté that's been producing traditional French workwear since the 1950s.
Luckily for us, it’s stocked locally out of Melbourne's Phillip & Lea, so no need to deal with international shipping or sizing charts in French for this one.
$248 at phillipandlea.com.au