Few fashion brands say Blue Collar America more than Carhartt. Headquartered in Dearborn, Mich., the company has been selling heavy-duty overalls, jackets, pants and shirts to working-class Americans for 135 years.
So when vice presidential nominee Tim Walz shows up at public events in Carhartt workwear instead of the standard politician's suit and tie — topped with a hunter-style camo-print cap — the country takes notice.
"It seems to be how he normally dresses," said menswear writer Derek Guy. "But you just don't normally see a politician dress so casually.'"
"In Walz, Harris Sees a Battleground Strategy Dressed in Carhartt," ran a headline in The New York Times earlier this week, over a story exploring the tricky balance the Democratic nominees must strike between appealing to wavering or undecided voters and seeming to be their authentic selves.
Some see Walz's down-home wardrobe choices as an honest reflection of his Midwestern values. He's a former high school football coach who served 24 years in the National Guard.
"Lefties have been crushing lately on MN Gov. Tim Walz, who can voice progressive ideas while (authentically) wearing Carhartt," wrote J. Patrick Coolican in an opinion piece in the Ohio Capital Journal. "@Tim_Walz is just very Minnesotan!!! And hard working!" wrote MamaG on X.com in reference to Walz's predilection for the brand.
Others are questioning Walz's style motives.
"Pandering," wrote @WFHMommaof3Boyson X.com; User Kwix posted: "Dems have tried much stupider ways to connect with Midwest middle class white voters."
A much broader appeal
Yet it's been years since Carhartt has appealed solely to plumbers, longshoremen and construction workers.
"Carhartt has been popular with the street wear scene at least since the 1990s," said Guy. "And in the last 10 or 12 years, it's become especially popular as streetwear has become more mainstream."
Today, Carhartt items fly of the racks at trendy, urban vintage stores and regularly show up in celebrities' wardrobes. Actors Austin Butler and Chris Pine and pop stars Kanye West and Rihanna have been spotted wearing the brand. There's even a streetwear spinoff, Carhartt Work In Progress (Carhartt WIP).
"Its range of influence is pretty staggering," said fashion writer Peter Zottolo in an email. "To older generations, Carhartt means you’re practical, ready to sweat in the dirt, and not afraid to mess up your clothes, because that’s what these clothes were made for. Younger generations get this too, but they also attach an entirely different meaning to it, a sort of IYKYK [If You Know You Know] cachet that whispers cool authority, especially when it’s worn in."
"It is still very much a workwear brand and our customers who buy Carhartt still are absolutely plumbers, electricians, landscapers, contractors, carpenters, et cetera," said Chris Litchfield, owner of ACME Workwear, a family-run store in San Francisco that's been in business for more than 50 years. "But there's no doubt that there's been a younger influence as well. We've seen a lot of kids coming in recently who are buying it for back-to-school. They're buying hoodies, they're buying pants."
The camo cap
Like other brands such as L.L. Bean and Levi's that were once considered working class, Carhartt is part of a broader trend toward casual style that started in the last century.
"In the early 20th century, men took their dress direction from elites such as the Duke of Windsor," said Guy. "By the Post War period, fashion influence was starting to come from laborers, musicians, artists, working class people. And the suit started to lose its dominance in the menswear market."
Politicians' style is in keeping with this trend.
Guy noted that politicians have been trying to "dress down" to seem more relatable since the 1970s, if not earlier. "When Jimmy Carter was campaigning, he would sometimes take off his suit jacket. And that was a tradition that Bill Clinton and Obama continued," Guy said. "In more recent times, Gov. Ron DeSantis was campaigning for the Republican nomination last year while wearing a fishing shirt."
Other politicians besides Walz have sported Carhartt: John Fetterman, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, and Barack Obama have all been known to wear items from the brand. (Also, Walz sometimes does wear a suit.)
Guy said Walz likely isn't paying close attention to the youth appeal of his clothes, adding that the politician's broader fashion choices, which include L.L. Bean barn coats and Red Wing work boots, are all trending right now. "He just strikes me as the kind of guy that probably buys them from the catalogs, kind of like mainline stores," Guy said. "I doubt he's going into fashion boutiques."
Yet at least one item in Walz's closet does seem to be engineered to appeal to voters — the camo cap. "That hat demonstrates some thinking on the part of the Harris campaign," Guy said, noting the political savvy of a version of the cap bearing the slogan "Harris Walz" in eye-catching tangerine lettering showing up for sale online just hours after the campaign released a video in which Walz wore it.
"Clearly they timed the release so that people online would have something to talk about the entire day," Guy said.
Trump's campaign is also selling a camo hat with orange lettering that says "Make America Great Again" on the front and Trump on the back, plus an American flag on one side and 45-47 on the other, because Trump hopes to be not only the country's 45th president but the 47th as well.
Camo hats are understood to be aimed at red-state voters, many of whom back fewer restrictions on gun ownership. Camo merchandise has not traditionally been targeted toward blue state voters.
But the Harris-Walz hat picked up steam on social media when the pop star Chappell Roan noticed a likeness between her own "Midwest Princess" hat and the candidates' one. “Is this real” she wrote on X.com.
According to Teen Vogue, the Harris-Walz hat sold out in 30 minutes. It won't be available again until Oct. 14.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
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