Dawson Denim Enlists US Navy Inspiration for Selvedge Denim Smocks

Menswear designers take advantage of US Navy uniforms all the time. We wear deck jackets, pea coats, and watch caps all the time, but some styles are certainly less popular and certainly less ubiquitous.

Dawson Denim wanders into waters where fewer have waded taking inspiration from vintage Navy smocks. But where the original sailor’s uniform was slightly silly (at least in retrospect), Dawson’s smock is just plain cool. The smock comes in either 14oz. indigo-dyed selvedge denim or 10oz. un-dyed redline selvedge twill. The details of the smock are mostly authentic to the original Navy version, except for the omission of that funny little flap that hung down the back. Dawson’s version, with its fully-felled seams, chest pocket, and modernized collar is a sublime kind of updated workwear. While clearly reminiscing on another time, the smock is elegant and modern enough to keep you from looking like some kind of war re-enactor, or Donald Duck.

Dawson Denim takes the sailor’s smock from the high seas of the 20th century to the high street of the 21st. Both the Indigo-Dyed and Un-dyed versions are available on their website for £240.