The work jacket is a five-button number, fairly short and mostly straight in the body. It's an easy all-rounder. It has a collar of middling size, with gently rounded points, and which is cut such that it caresses the neck when up, but sits pleasingly proud and round when down. No sloppy concavity here.
The buttons are horn, and are dark in colour and matte in finish. Being as they're only a step or two from nature, each one is different, in terms of shade and marking. Those at the front are attached through eyelets and a metal ring — "butcher's buttons", sometimes they are called — and are thus removable.
The jacket has what looks like a classic set-in sleeve, such as you expect on a jacket of this type. But, on closer examination, it can be seen to be open at the armpit. This is entirely hidden with arms at ease but is, nevertheless, a truly cutting-edge-in-1890 source of ventilation for this doughty and durable work jacket.
The jacket has many pockets — some more obvious than others. The main pockets certainly are obvious, spanning as they do the entire front of the jacket. They're best thought of as buckets for all and every belonging — drop it in there, care and precision be darned — and the insouciant stuffing of the hand.
There is a chest pocket on the right. It is quite a large one, as such pockets go. With the main pockets mentioned above, it brings the pocket-count up to three.
The chest pocket is mirrored on the left by the stitching of an internal pocket (which, sandwiched between the inner layers, is accessible only by digging around, and is thus best thought of as two-thirds secret). All of these pockets are strengthened at points of wear / tear with tough little bar-tacks.
The fifth and final pocket on the jacket is on the inside, on the left side as worn. It is precisely the right dimensions and coordinates for the stuffing of mobiles and plastic cards. Taking this final pocket into account, pocketing is thought to cover about three-eighths of the work jacket's surface area.
There are side-adjusters towards the back of the jacket, at waist height, for adjusting the fit. Some like their work jackets boxy, some like some shape: the adjusters here do their best to satisfy all desires.
The sleeves are a standard sort of width, but they taper sharply at the elbow and fasten snugly around the wrist with gusset-type cuffs. They are lined with a slinky satin, which is unusual for a work jacket, but makes sliding in arms as easy as on an exquisitely tailored suit jacket.
The back of the work jacket is lined, just halfway down, with more hopsack. This double-layer of cloth, here and elsewhere, makes for a particularly sturdy jacket. It also keeps the internal workings of the jacket completely out of sight, thus ensuring its innards are just as prim as its outtards.
The cloth is equal parts cotton and linen, and is a heavy hopsack, redolent of traditional workwear material. It is strong and hard-wearing, but because of the high linen content, is cool to touch and more breathable than you'd expect. The linen throws out a slub every now and then, too, adding character.