Unisex workwear doesn't sit well with us. Here's why.
Once upon a time there were little to no options for women’s workwear in industrial and heavy trade vocations – in fact it wasn’t that long ago. Companies will argue that there’s “unisex” options available but how inclusive are they really? Is it not just men’s clothing that’s been labelled as an afterthought to “include” women? Well we think it’s a dismal excuse to gloss over the elephant in the room. Unisex industrial workwear is not designed with women in mind.
A “one size (or shape) fits all” approach in industrial and heavy trade vocations only adds to the stigma around these men-based job roles. Times are changing and the industry needs to change with it, a leap we took long before our competitors were ready. Creating hi-vis workwear made for women, that's fit for purpose, is what Co Gear has always been about. And what’s one major life altering experience that a lot of women go through? Pregnancy. Name a unisex workwear option that accommodates a baby bump… we’ll wait.
You may be able to tell that this is a topic we are passionate about at Co Gear and why wouldn’t we be! Advocating for inclusive workplaces is what we do. We design clothes to fit all woman’s shapes from a size 4-26, making it the most diverse size range on the market. All of our garments are highly customisable and thought out with features like the Cut to Fit™ hems design by MAK Workwear, extendable waistbands and privacy buttons just to name a few. This may sound like a bit of a plug but hey! We are proud of what we are bringing working women and the changes we are making to their daily lives. Over the years we’ve received touching feedback from women everywhere, glowing from finally finding workwear that they feel good in.
Unisex fashion is paving the way for the future and we can see the importance in that. We also love that there is more thought and innovation going into unisex fashion designs, with even household brands like Bonds jumping on board. However, fashion clothing is vastly different from industrial workwear and expecting women to fit into the same workwear as Dazza over there, is a whole new ball game.
We posed the question to our COmmunity to gain some more thoughts around the topic. First we conducted the survey on Instagram and Facebook asking – should unisex workwear be an option in industrial and heavy trade vocations? The results? Drumroll please… 21% voted yes and 79% voted no.
We asked our followers what they loved about their women’s workwear specifically as opposed to unisex or “one size fits all” options. Here are some of our responses!
“That I can move around comfortably!”
“That I don’t look like a potato. Also, women’s pants usually allow for hips so they aren’t all baggy and the crotch isn’t halfway down my thigh”.
It looks like a lot of women can agree, unisex workwear doesn’t inspire the confidence we should all feel going to work each day. The fact that we have some women that disagree means that perhaps unisex clothing should stay… with a major face lift. Could there be a world in which unisex clothing really does fit and accommodate for both sexes? We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime we stand for the inclusive option of making women’s industrial workwear readily and easily available.
Browse what we have available for you over at our shop.