14 Brands Like Dickies and Carhartt for Workwear Style
Count the duck canvas jackets in one coffee queue and you'll lose track by the third barista. Dickies sells its Original 874 Work Pant for $29.99, and Carhartt is the other half of that answer, which is why both now read as a look rather than a decision. The clothes still do the job. Half the room made the identical call, though. These 14 brands cut the same weight of cloth and reinforce the same seams, each pushing the category somewhere the two staples don't reach. We settle the original matchup in Dickies vs Carhartt.
Quick comparison: every brand below, with the price we could verify on its own store and the reader we'd send to it.
| Brand | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Filson | $164.50 to $839.30 on outerwear | One heavy jacket bought once |
| Carhartt WIP | $118 to $168 on pants | Carhartt shapes cut for a fashion fit |
| Timberland PRO | Mid-range | Site kit bought alongside the boots |
| Helly Hansen Workwear | Premium | Outdoor trades in real weather |
| Ben Davis | $52 to $55 on pants | The 874 swap with a different label |
| Duluth Trading | Mid-range | Anyone who's split a seam squatting down |
| Red Kap | $21.99 to $46.79 on work shirts | Buying five identical shirts at once |
| Wrangler Riggs Workwear | Budget | Denim-first workwear |
| Stan Ray | Mid-range | Painter pants with a wide leg |
| Propper | $54.99 to $69.99 on tactical pants | Pockets sized for tools, not phones |
| Ariat | $54.95 to $67.95 on Rebar pants | Long days on your feet, boots included |
| Patagonia Workwear | Premium | Hemp canvas instead of cotton duck |
| L.L.Bean | Mid-range | Flannel and boots over site gear |
| Dovetail Workwear | $99 to $119 on pants | Women tired of buying men's smalls |
Filson
Filson is the Seattle outfitter you buy a jacket from once rather than every other winter, with outerwear priced from $164.50 to $839.30. The Tin Cloth Short Lined Cruiser Jacket ($359) is the piece that explains the rest of the range. Waxed cotton goes on stiff, breaks in around your shoulders over a couple of winters, and can be re-waxed instead of replaced.
Where Dickies gets you dressed for $29.99, Filson asks you to spend a month's clothing budget in one go. What you're paying for is a garment worth repairing, in a cut that suits a broader frame than the 874 allows for. Wool cruisers and Mackinaw coats sit at the top of the range, so read the fabric before the photo.
Best for: the one heavy jacket you want to stop rebuying.
Carhartt WIP
Carhartt WIP takes Carhartt's patterns and cuts them for a wardrobe rather than a job site, with pants on its US store running $118 to $168. The Double Knee Pant ($168) keeps the reinforced front panels and loses the boxy seat, and the Simple Pant ($118) is the flat-front version people buy in threes.
You're paying roughly five times the 874 for a pant that does the same thing, which is the honest trade. The colours are the argument. WIP runs seasonal washes and shades that Carhartt's own line has no reason to make, so the pants read as clothes rather than as kit. We cover the wider family in brands like Carhartt.
Best for: Carhartt shapes you can wear to dinner.
Timberland PRO
Timberland PRO is Timberland's work division, and it dresses the rest of you once the boots are sorted. Shirts, work pants and insulated jackets sit in the mid-range bracket, close to where Carhartt's core line lands.
Boots you already trust are the reason to start here. If you've worn PRO safety toes through a winter, the apparel comes from the same brief, built for people who spend the day moving rather than sitting. The styling stays plain and practical, so this is site kit rather than something you'll reach for on a Saturday.
Best for: buying the clothes and the boots from one place.
Helly Hansen Workwear
Helly Hansen Workwear is the Norwegian brand's professional division, and it sits at the premium end of this list. The sailing and ski heritage matters here, because the shells and insulated layers are built for people working outside in weather that would soak a duck canvas coat through.
Cotton duck is the wrong fabric for a wet January, and that's the gap this fills. Weatherproofing and hi-vis are the difference between this and a Dickies jacket, and the price reflects it. Trades working outdoors year-round are the audience. If your work is indoors or dry, you're paying for protection you won't use.
Best for: outdoor trades in genuine weather.
Shop Helly Hansen Workwear Now
Ben Davis
Ben Davis is the workwear label whose pants cost $52 to $55, which makes it the closest like-for-like swap on this list. Original Ben's Pants ($52) do what the 874 does, and the Gorilla Cut Pants ($52) go wider through the leg for anyone who finds Dickies cut close.
The gorilla logo is the whole point of choosing this over Dickies. It carries the same West Coast weight the 874 does without the saturation, so you get the reference without the uniform. Carpenter Pants ($53) in black denim cover the hammer-loop end of the range. Sizing runs generously, so take your measured waist rather than your usual number.
Best for: the 874 swap that fewer people are wearing.
Duluth Trading
Duluth Trading builds mid-range workwear around one complaint, which is clothing that binds and rides up the moment you crouch or reach overhead. Room to move is the house signature, and the catalogue has been making jokes about the problem for years.
Against Carhartt, the pitch is movement rather than armour. Carhartt's duck canvas wins on abrasion, and Duluth wins the afternoon you spend on your knees in a crawlspace. Sizing runs generous, which is the practical reason to look here first if the 874 has been cutting into you by lunchtime.
Best for: anyone who's split a seam squatting down.
Red Kap
Red Kap is the uniform supplier hiding in plain sight, with work shirts from $21.99 to $46.79. The Men's Long Sleeve Industrial Work Shirt ($21.99) is the plain shirt you've seen on mechanics for years, and the Pro+ Work Shirt with OilBlok and MIMIX ($44.59) adds oil-shedding treatment for garage work.
This is the cheapest way onto the list, and the reason is volume. Red Kap sells to fleets and franchises, so the shirts come in identical colourways you can order five deep and stop thinking about. The fit is roomy and squared off rather than tailored, which is the look people hunt for in vintage shops at several times the price of a new one at $21.99.
Best for: buying five identical shirts and forgetting about it.
Wrangler Riggs Workwear
Wrangler Riggs Workwear is Wrangler's budget-priced work line, and it comes at the category from denim rather than from duck canvas. That's the distinction worth knowing. Dickies and Carhartt built their reputations on twill and duck, and Riggs starts from a jean and reinforces it for site use.
You get denim and ripstop work pants cut with room through the thigh, at prices that undercut most of this list. The styling is plainer than Wrangler's western line, so these read as work clothes rather than going-out jeans. If your work uniform is already a pair of jeans and boots, this is the shortest step up.
Best for: denim-first workwear on a tight budget.
Shop Wrangler Riggs Workwear Now
Stan Ray
Stan Ray is the mid-range label that took the painter pant seriously while the rest of the category chased the chore coat. The OG Painter Pant is the anchor, a wide straight leg that looks the way workwear looked before the fits narrowed.
Stan Ray also runs a Made in USA collection alongside the main range, which is unusual at this price. Compared with Dickies, the leg is wider and the fabric heavier, so the pants hold a shape instead of clinging. The Wide 5 and Taper 5 jeans cover the same ground in denim if painter pants feel like too much.
Best for: a painter pant with an honest wide leg.
Propper
Propper makes tactical and uniform clothing, with men's tactical pants from $54.99 to $69.99. The Men's Lightweight Tactical Pant ($54.99) is the entry point, the RevTac Stretch Tactical Pant ($59.99) adds stretch, and the Kinetic Tactical Pant ($69.99) sits at the top.
Pocket layout is the reason to look here. Carhartt gives you deep front pockets and a hammer loop, and Propper gives you cargo pockets shaped for things with corners. The look is military rather than heritage, which is either the appeal or the dealbreaker. Anyone carrying a multitool and a torch all day will notice the difference by the second week.
Best for: pockets sized for tools rather than a phone.
Ariat
Ariat comes at workwear from the ranch, and its Rebar work line runs $54.95 to $67.95 on pants. The Rebar M7 DuraStretch Made Tough Straight Pant ($54.95) is the straight-leg option, and the Rebar M4 Relaxed DuraStretch Basic Boot Cut Jean ($62.95 to $67.95) is cut to sit over a boot rather than bunch above it.
That boot cut is the practical difference from Dickies. If you're in western or safety boots all day, a hem shaped for them stops the fabric riding up your shin. Ariat's footwear heritage carries through to fit around the ankle and calf. The Rebar Lightweight Logo Hoodie ($59.95 to $64.95) rounds out the layering side.
Best for: long days in boots, on a ranch or a site.
Patagonia Workwear
Patagonia Workwear is the premium outlier here, and it swapped cotton duck for a hemp-blend canvas the brand calls Iron Forge. Double knee work pants in that fabric are the flagship, cut in men's and women's fits across three inseam lengths.
Hemp canvas is the argument. It arrives softer than Carhartt's duck and skips the fortnight of break-in where a new chore coat feels like cardboard, while standing up to the same scraping. You pay Patagonia prices for that. Anyone who's given up on a stiff duck jacket twice already has a reason to try a different fibre.
Best for: canvas toughness without the break-in period.
L.L.Bean
L.L.Bean is the mid-priced Maine outfitter that reads as workwear without ever having dressed a factory floor. Flannel shirts and boots are the core, and the whole range sits closer to a cold morning splitting logs than to a job site.
Choose it when what you want from Carhartt is the look rather than the abrasion resistance. The fabrics are softer and the colours are warmer, and the sizing runs forgiving across a wide range of body shapes. What you lose is the reinforcement, so treat a Bean flannel as a weekend shirt rather than something to wear near a grinder. For heavier boots, see our roundup of brands like Red Wing.
Best for: flannel and boots rather than site gear.
Dovetail Workwear
Dovetail Workwear designs workwear for women in the trades, with work pants from $99 to $119. The Britt X Ultralight Work Pant ($99) in flax ripstop is the summer option, the Old School Wide Leg Jeans ($109) cover the denim end, and the Provisions Lightweight Ripstop Cargo Pant ($119) sits at the top.
This is the gap Dickies and Carhartt leave open. Both sell women's ranges, and both start from a men's block, so the waist gaps or the thigh binds depending on your shape. Dovetail drafts from scratch for women's proportions instead. It's the priciest way onto this list per pant, and it's the one that stops you buying a men's small and hoping.
Best for: women who've had enough of altering men's workwear.
How to Pick the One That Fits Your Week
Start with what your day does to your clothes. Kneeling and crawling point to Duluth Trading or Propper, and standing on concrete in boots points to Ariat. Rain and cold outdoors makes Helly Hansen Workwear worth the premium, and a dry indoor job makes it money wasted.
If the pull is aesthetic rather than practical, the cheapest honest answer is Red Kap at $21.99 a shirt, and the most interesting is Stan Ray's wider leg. Buy one pant, wear it for a month, then buy three more of whichever survived. Our fuller brands like Dickies list goes deeper on the budget end.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
