Blue Collar and White Collar

Blue chambray shirt

The term blue collar refers to manual laborers while white collar refers to knowledge workers. But where do these terms come from?

Blue collar refers to the blue-colored denim or chambray shirts commonly worn by factory, construction, and other types of manual labors. These shirts were durable, easy to maintain, and the blue collar concealed dirt and grime.

White collar comes from the white dress shirts worn by professionals who work in an office environment.