The first time I met Bill Cunningham, he took my picture while I was installing Nasturtium vines at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I was not expecting to appear in his column in the NYT, nor was I expecting to develop a special bond with this one of a kind character. Over the years, Bill continued to photograph me at work and we chatted about our mutual love of plants and workwear. He taught me pretty much everything I need to know about integrity.

One particularly fateful day, I told him how much I loved his signature, blue work coat. He took it off and gave it to me (he insisted!) and sent me in the mail two others, from Paris ca. 1950. He wanted me to see the decline in the quality of the fabric used to make his favorite work coat —he said that the newer versions were “cheesy.”

Recently, the archivist at Dickies showed me a swatch of a sturdy, blue Japanese twill and I immediately thought of Bill and his old work coats. Together, we worked to put a twist on a vintage shirt pattern from the Dickies’ archive to create this hardworking, versatile, shawl collar layering shirt in honor of my friend’s enduring legacy. We hope you love it as much as we do.  

• 100% cotton, imported twill.

• Made in Texas.

• Shawl collar, two front pockets, chest pocket (with pencil pocket).

• Longer plackets to roll up to short sleeve.

• Vintage chain stitching trails at the bottom of the side seam to keep the chain stitching from unraveling.

• Fits true to size—size down to wear more fitted, size up to layer.