Our work pants go through a lot at Moregeous Manisons. Three years ago I casually packed up all my ‘nice’ clothes and confidently stored them in a shipping container in Trafford Park, along with all our furniture, books and kitchen paraphernalia. Confidently because I figured they’d be in there for, ooooooo, I guessed around 10-12 months.
12 months later we’d pretty much decided to double the renovation and do most of it ourselves. Three years later, having long forgotten what clothes I actually own and juggled work, life, a court case, pain, families and the odd day off – 4, I think, in total – workwear is a default setting. Whenever I go somewhere in ‘regular clothes’, i.e. not in my paint splattered, caulk smeared, cement splashed black pants & top, people I know look shocked and say stuff like” Wow, don’t you look clean, did you finish the house?”
I’ve long since become used to nipping to John Lewis for some fabric or a light and label-clad Cheshire ladies eyeing me with confusion, their slightly wrinkled noses quivering at what they perceive to be a female tradesperson. Makes me smile every time.
Anyhow. The result? I need good workwear. Stuff that will stand up to every day wear: be tough enough to climb up on the roof, straddle walls, get under joists and kneel on the floor. Light enough to be inside painting on a warm day but heavy enough to be outside in a cold wind. Lots of pockets for my knife, phone, pencils, brushes, tools and, sorry but yes, lip gloss. My ones above had pretty much come to the end of their days and had been loyal servants to the Moregeous cause. I needed new pants!
Plus they needed look good too. Not make me look like a bloke. Talking of blokes, Mr M has the same problems. Not the not-looking-like-a-bloke bit clearly, but needing trousers which stand up to his very demanding requirements. Us self-builder / renovators can be doing literally anything from day to day, unlike trades with specific jobs. He goes through pants like a demon too, this pair on the left below had lasted him 20 minutes 😉
Now, most companies send bloggers free product wanting an immediate review. This might be ok with soap, chocolate or cushions but with workwear, immediacy just won’t cut it. I got chatting with Jobman over Twitter and possibly because there aren’t *that* many lady builders out there, they asked that I road-test their new female work pants. Bring ’em on and get ’em in the post I said 🙂 My old ones had gotten to the stage where even I was ashamed to walk them into John Lewis, so the new ones were immediately pulled on.
Pretty much, I’ve worn them every day the last year since. Not Christmas Day. Ok, and (mostly) not for ‘going out’ but not far off every day since. They’ve been bashed, washed, wiped, under the floor, on the roof, on the scaffold and on the telly. They’ve been, in short, great. Excellent quality cotton, hard wearing and packed with pockets. Nice high-ish waist which is more flattering than other workwear pants too. Strong material on the thighs which takes my constant finger & tool wiping of adhesive / paint / chalk.
There were only two downsides which I can think of. One is that they are slightly too heavy for very hot summer days but to be honest, we don’t get many of these in Manchester and I’d imagine they do a lighter weight pair than the ones I’ve been testing. If anyone could design some workwear shorts for women too, that’d be fab, rather than me cutting down long trousers once the knees have gone through.
The second is that the thin, pale grey hanging strap at the front feels like a pocket but isn’t, so I’ve lost count of the times I’ve slipped my phone in my ‘pocket’ only to have it drop on the floor. Super annoying. In a perfect pant world, I’d also have a narrower & less deep front pocket for pens too, my fingers aren’t long enough to reach in for stubby pencils, but this certainly wasn’t a deal breaker.
Have they stood up to the rigours of life here on site? Yes.
Would I buy a pair? Yes
Would I recommend them to other renovators and lady builders? Yes
Thumbs ups from me and thanks to Jobman for sending me a pair to road test. You can find their range here if you’re in the market for some hard wearing reno pants. Right, I better stop writing and pull mine on to get cracking again, I can hear Mr M cutting up scaffolding planks downstairs!
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