Women's Work Jackets

Work jackets get bought for one of three reasons — warmth, weather, or being seen — and this range splits along those lines rather than covering all three in one garment. Buying for the wrong reason is the usual mistake: a fleece will not keep rain out, and a light shell that does will not keep you warm on its own.

Fleece is the largest group, about half the range: crew necks, zip-front hoodies, and a sherpa-lined version for genuine cold. It is the sensible default for most women's work jackets because it is warm for its weight, washes well and does not flap about on an exposed site. Three of the fleece hoodies carry a liquid- or water-repellent finish, which sheds drizzle and drying spray but is not a rain shell and should not be bought as one. A puffer is warmer again and packs down small enough to leave in the ute. Where fleece and sherpa lose is bulk — under a harness, a vest or a coverall, the flatter soft shell is usually the more comfortable answer.

For weather, the group to look at is the soft shells, the rain shells, and the single 3-in-1 and 5-in- Both of those are convertible: the sleeves zip off, and on the 5-in-1 a reversible padded bodywarmer zips out of the shell as well. They earn their money if you would rather buy once, because the shell alone handles a mild wet morning and the layers together cover a cold one. The heavier seam-sealed rain shells are what most people mean by a work coat, and one of them is made in a recycled fabric. A taped hi vis drill jacket sits outside both groups — cotton rather than fleece or shell, bought for hard wear rather than for warmth or weather.

About half the range is hi vis, and nearly all of that is taped. Which class you need, and whether day and night tape is required, comes from your site's PPE rules rather than from the jacket — worth settling before choosing on colour, because the two-tone and plain versions of the same style are not interchangeable on a site that specifies one. Women's hi vis jackets are collected separately if visibility is the whole requirement, and women's work tops covers what goes underneath.