On the sidewalks of New York as in Milan, one detail betrays the looks of It girls on their days off: their cuddly sweatshirts are becoming increasingly rare. Leaving a studio, at the airport or on a brunch trip, these street style queens keep their jeans and sneakers on, but have clearly adopted a new favorite jacket to feel both cool and dressed.
This small shift is seen at Rosalía in promotion for her album, but also at the Italian stylist Gilda Ambrosio, who multiplies the ultra-worked casual silhouettes. Their common point: a workwear jacket, inspired by work overalls, which replaces the hoodie without losing anything in comfort. And it’s just starting to invade our wardrobes.
Why are it girls swapping their sweatshirts for workwear jackets?
For years, the hoodie has been the uniform of off-duty looks: practical, reassuring, easy to put on over a t-shirt. Except that it tends to flatten the silhouette and give a very relaxed, almost teenage look. In a fashion report dedicated to Rosalía in New York, we see her in a long white dress covering her shoes, topped with a black workwear jacket with a clean volume. Same cocoon spirit for the body, but a structured top that frames the entire look and gives it real presence.
Neapolitan designer Gilda Ambrosio has already mastered this game of contrasts, she who reigns in the street style field between Milan, Naples, Paris and Ibiza. In her looks, she likes to wear croc-style leather trench coats, high-waisted pleated pants or blazers, which she mixes with more bohemian, glamorous or rock pieces to create a chameleon silhouette. By replacing a sweatshirt with a women’s workwear jacket, she keeps this cool energy, but with a strong build and a clean cut that pleases Fashion Week photographers as much as the girls who follow her on the networks.
How to choose your women’s workwear jacket for a successful off-duty look
Originally, the work jacket was that of workers: straight cut, sturdy canvas, patch pockets to keep tools close at hand. Today, the workwear jacket takes up these codes in more fashionable versions, in raw denim, thick cotton or corduroy, sometimes lined for winter. It can be worn open like an overshirt or closed like a small jacket, exactly where you would have worn a sweatshirt or hoodie.
The idea is to find the right balance between relaxation and structure, a bit like we already do with a blazer. If you want to blur the hips, choose a slightly long workwear jacket that falls at the top of the thighs. If you’re petite, a shorter version that stops just below the waist lengthens the leg. The slightly marked shoulders immediately give presence, while softer materials, such as flannel or thick jersey, provide that sweatshirt comfort that we love to keep on even on days off.
Look ideas with a workwear jacket to copy the it girls
Once you’ve found the fit, just slip it into your outfits instead of your sweatshirt. Some ideas directly inspired by it girls silhouettes:
- Urban Rosalía version: long white or cream dress, black workwear jacket on top, boots or big sneakers, hair pulled back to let the jacket do the talking.
- Brunch version in the city: raw jeans, white t-shirt, slightly oversized denim workwear jacket, sneakers and structured bag. Same ease as a jean sweatshirt set, but with a much more worked look.
- Creative office version: pleated pants, flowing top, workwear jacket in plain beige, navy or khaki canvas, moccasins or derbies. You get a relaxed tailoring side that replaces a classic blazer very well.
- Relaxed evening version: satin dress or little black dress inspired by the glamorous silhouettes of The Attico brand, to which you add a short worker jacket. This breaks the overdressed side while maintaining a real fashion effect.
By putting it on instead of a sweatshirt, the workwear jacket quickly becomes that chameleon piece that you keep near the front door for all impromptu outings. It retains the nonchalance of a casual jacket, but its straight cut, its pockets and its thick materials give the impression of a thoughtful outfit, even on days off when you don’t want to spend hours there.
