Back in the 1970’s carpenter pants (a.k.a. painter pants) were the hip style in pants, shorts and even skirts.  The more pockets the better.  God knows why we needed all those pockets especially the “loop” for our trusted hammers.  Last time I checked once the work shift ended there really wasn’t a big need for your hammer to be attached to your pants anymore.  But be that as it may, if your pants were sporting the hammer loop, you were cool.

Carpenter pants were designed with the blue collar worker in mind as sort of a uniform for easy access to tools of the trade. Carpenters, construction workers and painters  found them a great way to make their workday a little easier. However, they weren’t the ones who brought this line of pants to the mainstream of the fashion world. It was the people that didn’t have to wear them to work everyday that thought the many pockets and loose fit was a great way to start a fashion trend. And they were right!

Carpenter pants ran the gauntlet of style from kids to adults. Nobody was safe from these many pocketed pants. Girls started sporting the white painter paints with embellishments of their own glued to the pockets, knees and hems; the brighter the designs the better. And what’s not to like about the hammer loop. Everything from bandanas to key chains were hooked on to the loop for style and flair.

There were many brands of carpenter and painter pants in the 70’s but a brand that has stayed true to this style of pants today is the Dickies pants brand. Dickies brought out this great line of workwear clothing and made it a household name. Today the pants are better than ever with their double reinforced knees, loose fit and of course the tried-and-true hammer loop (although now they come with two hammer loops, one on each side of the pants). What more could you ask for?

Today carpenter pants are a huge seller as workwear apparel (notice that I said workwear). I think it’s best that we leave these great pants just where they belong and not try to bring them into the fashion world again. They’ve had their moment in the spotlight and now we need to retire them to the uniform work force they were intended for all along. Let’s keep the hammer loops where they belong, where they’re happy and where the loop actually is used to hold a real hammer!