These vintage clothes are no doubt good stuff but the topic reminded me of my dad. He was in the US Navy in the 1950's and toured the middle east. One summer back in the 80s he handed me a half dozen beautiful long sleeve khaki cotton shirts that he had from his Navy days. He thought they would make great work shirts. I worked in a factory back then and they were perfect.
The first day wearing one of these shirts on the job was a real experience. I reached for a tool, rip. OK, sleeve ripped, remove shirt, slap a patch of duct tape on the inside, continue. Bend over, rip. OK shoulder ripped, strip off shirt, duct tape, carry on. Catch shirt on workbench, rip, strip, tape. Lift electroplating rack, rip, large vent down center of back, kind of refreshing actually. Strip off shirt, pull long length of tape...
"McINTYRE!!! WHAT THE @#$%&* ARE YOU DOING!" Shop foreman HAS been watching...
Lessons Learned
1. Never wear a 35 year old cotton shirt to work that has been exposed to the sun from Gibraltar to India and back.
2. You CAN make a pretty decent work shirt out of duct tape.