Workwear
Vintage Carhartt means the older work jackets — Detroit, Active and chore coats — rather than a new catalogue piece or a Carhartt WIP garment, which is a separate fashion line. There is no tag-colour chart that dates a jacket to a single year. The useful clues are the inside care label, the style code and the made-in line, read together, and only as far as a faded label actually lets you.
On many jackets the inside care label has a small 3- or 4-digit code. Collectors usually read it as month, then year, so 0698 would be June 1998. The digits are small and they fade. A code you cannot read clearly is not a year.
Coloured square tags on the chest pocket get dated differently by different guides, and those charts do not agree. We do not use a tag colour to name a year.
"Made in USA" does not by itself mean the jacket is old. Carhartt has sewn jackets in the US in more than one era. A union label next to "Made in USA" is a clue that the piece is from the earlier US production, before much of the line moved. "Made in Mexico" became common as that shift happened, a lot of it in the late 1990s and 2000s, but the country line alone will not give you a year. "Made in USA of imported components" is another wording you will see. Treat it as a wording, not a date.
These are different coats, and the style code on the label is a model, not a date. The codes below are the ones these styles commonly use. A label that does not match is a reason to look harder, not a reason to invent a year.
Carhartt WIP (Work In Progress) is a separate fashion line, with its own labels and a slimmer fit. A WIP tag is not a counterfeit, and it is not a US work jacket. If you want the workwear, look for the mainline Carhartt label.
Older Detroit jackets, in the J01 era, are often sized by chest number: 38, 40, 42 and so on. Later jackets, including the J97, use letters. The cut is roomy, for a layer underneath. A tall size such as LT is longer in the body and the sleeve, not just wider. Use the flat measurements on our listing. The tag is a clue, not the fit.
Wash cold, inside out, and hang it to dry. A hot dryer can shrink a blanket lining. Don't assume dry cleaning is safe for every lining. If a zipper sticks, don't force it.
The site currently lists 7 Carhartt pieces, including Carhartt Quilt-Lined Duck Canvas Bib Overalls, Carhartt Detroit Jacket with Dodge Embroidery, Carhartt Quilted Lined Active Jacket, Carhartt Double Knee Dungaree Fit Carpenter Pants, Carhartt Active Jacket with Schulte Builders Embroidery and Carhartt Loose Fit Pocket T-Shirt in Sage Green. The price is on each listing. When a piece sells, it leaves the shop.
1 more is listed on the shop.
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Read the inside care label, the style code and the made-in line together. A date code, when you can read it, is usually month then year. "Made in USA" alone does not mean vintage, and a Carhartt WIP label is a different line, not a US work jacket. Tag-colour charts do not agree, so we do not use them.
A Detroit is the blanket-lined firm-duck jacket with a corduroy collar, often coded 6BLJ or later J01. An Active is a lighter zip jacket, often quilt-lined, commonly in the J130 family. A chore coat is simpler, often unlined, frequently a C-code such as C01.
Older Detroits are often sized by chest number and cut roomy. Later jackets use letter sizes and are still generous. A tall size is longer, not just wider. Use the measurements on the listing.
The site currently lists 7 Carhartt pieces, including Carhartt Quilt-Lined Duck Canvas Bib Overalls, Carhartt Detroit Jacket with Dodge Embroidery, Carhartt Quilted Lined Active Jacket, Carhartt Double Knee Dungaree Fit Carpenter Pants, Carhartt Active Jacket with Schulte Builders Embroidery and Carhartt Loose Fit Pocket T-Shirt in Sage Green. The price is on each listing.