WorkEase | Crossback Canvas Work Apron

The difference between an apron that gets worn and one that hangs on a hook is usually the weight of the cloth. A thin domestic apron takes one splash and passes it straight through; a work apron stops it and carries on. This is the heavier kind — a thickened canvas built for jobs where something is going to land on it, and cut plainly enough that it reads as workwear rather than as a gift.

The straps cross at the back rather than pulling on the neck, which is the detail that matters over a long shift, and they run through leather tabs and metal sliders so the length adjusts to the person wearing it. Long fabric ties gather it at the waist. Across the front are two deep patch pockets with a further pair of flap pockets set above them, all worked in contrast topstitching against the body of the cloth.

The fabric is a polyester-cotton canvas with a waterproof finish, so water beads and runs off instead of soaking through: the cotton gives it handle and a matte, slightly textured surface, and the polyester keeps it from sagging out of shape or taking half a day to dry. It is made in one size, cut generously, in black — the colour that holds up where stains and sawdust are inevitable, and the one that still reads as workwear at the end of a shift.

• Fabric: thickened polyester-cotton canvas, waterproof finish
• Straps: crossback, leather tabs with adjustable metal sliders
• Pockets: two deep patch pockets with two flap pockets above
• Waist: long fabric ties
• Size: one size, cut generously
• Weight: 470 g
• Colour: black