How to Choose the Right Workwear for Your Team
Choosing workwear for your team isn't simply a case of finding a polo shirt, adding a logo and placing an order.
The right workwear needs to look professional, feel comfortable, suit the environment your employees work in and stand up to the demands of the job. It also needs to represent your business properly.
Whether you're ordering uniforms for a handful of employees or kitting out a much larger team, getting a few key decisions right at the beginning can make a big difference.
Here are the main things to consider when choosing workwear for your team.
1. Start with what your team actually needs
Before looking at colours, brands or styles, think about how the garments are going to be used.
Someone working outdoors on a construction site will have very different requirements from a receptionist, care worker or nursery practitioner.
Consider questions such as:
- Will employees mainly work indoors or outdoors?
- Do they have physically demanding roles?
- Do they need additional warmth or weather protection?
- Does the role require hi-vis or other protective clothing?
- How frequently will garments be washed?
- Do employees need pockets or other practical features?
- Will customers regularly see your team?
- Does the uniform need to work across different seasons?
This helps you choose garments based on function first, rather than simply choosing the product that looks best in a catalogue.
2. Choose the right garments for each role
Not everyone in a business necessarily needs to wear exactly the same thing.
A coordinated workwear range can often work better than a single uniform.
For example, you might provide:
Polo shirts for everyday use
T-shirts for warmer environments or more active roles
Sweatshirts and hoodies for additional warmth
Fleeces and softshells for employees working between indoor and outdoor environments
Jackets for outdoor teams
Trousers and shorts for practical roles
Hi-vis and PPE where additional protection is required
Tunics for healthcare and care environments
Using the same colours and branding across several garment types allows employees to wear something appropriate for their role while maintaining a consistent company identity.
3. Don't overlook comfort
Your employees could spend eight hours or more wearing their workwear, so comfort matters.
An uncomfortable uniform isn't just unpleasant to wear. Employees may be less likely to wear it correctly or may start substituting their own clothing.
Think about the fabric, weight, fit, breathability and flexibility of the garment.
For active jobs, lighter and more breathable fabrics may be preferable. Outdoor teams may need layers that provide warmth without unnecessarily restricting movement.
It can also be worth offering different fits rather than expecting one garment style to work equally well for everyone.
The aim should be to find the balance between professional appearance, practicality and comfort.
4. Think carefully about sizing
One of the easiest ways to create problems with a workwear order is guessing sizes.
Sizing can vary between manufacturers and even between different garments from the same brand.
Where possible, check the individual garment's measurements rather than assuming that someone who normally wears a medium will automatically need a medium in every product.
For larger teams, collecting sizes systematically before placing the order can prevent mistakes.
Our Size Guide can help you understand how to measure your team and choose appropriate sizes before ordering.
5. Build your workwear around your brand
Workwear is one of the most visible representations of your business.
Your team could be wearing it while:
- visiting customers
- working on-site
- travelling between jobs
- making deliveries
- attending meetings
- working in public-facing environments
That makes workwear a valuable extension of your brand.
Your garment colours don't necessarily need to be an exact match for your logo. Instead, look for colours that complement your existing identity and allow your branding to remain clear and recognisable.
Navy, black, charcoal and grey are popular workwear colours because they're versatile and work well with many different logo designs, but brighter colours can be very effective for businesses with a more distinctive brand.
Consistency is usually more important than complexity.
6. Decide between embroidery and print
Once you've selected your garments, you'll need to decide how they're going to be branded.
Two of the most common options are embroidery and print.
Embroidery
Embroidery creates the design using thread stitched directly into the garment.
It can give workwear a smart, professional finish and is particularly popular for:
- polo shirts
- sweatshirts
- fleeces
- softshells
- jackets
- tunics
It works especially well for company logos and smaller chest branding.
Printing
Printing can be a great option for larger designs, detailed artwork or branding that needs to cover a bigger area.
It's commonly used for:
- T-shirts
- hoodies
- larger back designs
- promotional garments
- more detailed graphics
The best method depends on the garment, your artwork, the position of the branding and the finish you're trying to achieve.
If you're unsure, it's worth getting advice rather than automatically choosing one method for every garment.
7. Consider where your logo should go
The left chest is one of the most popular branding positions for workwear — and for good reason. It's professional, visible and suitable for a wide range of garments.
But it isn't the only option.
Depending on the garment and your requirements, branding could also be positioned on the:
- right chest
- sleeve
- upper back
- full back
- front
You might also want different information in different positions.
For example, you could have your company logo embroidered on the chest and larger printed branding or contact information on the back.
Try not to add branding simply because there's an available space. A clean, considered uniform will often look more professional than a garment covered in logos.
Our Artwork & Logo Guide provides more information about preparing your branding for personalised workwear.
8. Think about how many garments each employee needs
One uniform per employee is rarely enough.
Employees need time to wash garments, and items inevitably become dirty, damaged or unavailable.
The right quantity will depend on working patterns and how frequently the garments need washing.
Someone working five days a week may, for example, need several everyday tops along with additional outerwear.
It can also be useful to keep a small amount of spare workwear available for new starters, damaged garments and unexpected requirements.
Buying with this in mind from the beginning can make managing your uniform much easier.
9. Consider the lifetime cost, not just the purchase price
The cheapest garment isn't necessarily the cheapest option in the long run.
Imagine choosing between two polo shirts.
One costs slightly less but quickly loses its shape, fades after repeated washing and needs replacing.
The other costs a little more but continues looking professional for considerably longer.
The second garment could ultimately offer much better value.
When comparing workwear, consider:
Durability + comfort + appearance + expected lifespan + price
rather than price alone.
That's particularly important when your company logo is being added to the garment. Replacing poor-quality personalised garments can quickly become more expensive than choosing something suitable from the beginning.
10. Plan for different seasons
Your team's requirements in January probably won't be the same as their requirements in July.
Instead of treating workwear as a single garment, consider creating a simple layering system.
For example:
Base layer: T-shirt or polo
Mid layer: sweatshirt, hoodie or fleece
Outer layer: softshell or jacket
Employees can then adapt their clothing depending on the weather and their working environment while still looking like part of the same team.
For outdoor workers, you'll also need to consider appropriate weather protection and any PPE required for their role.
11. Make future ordering easy
It's worth thinking beyond your first workwear order.
Employees join. Garments get damaged. Sizes change. Teams expand.
Keeping your workwear range relatively consistent makes repeat ordering much easier.
Once you've established the right garments, colours and branding positions, you effectively have a standard uniform specification for your business.
When a new employee starts, you know exactly what needs to be ordered.
This is another reason not to create an unnecessarily complicated range containing dozens of different products.
12. Check everything before personalisation
This is particularly important.
Once garments have been embroidered, printed or otherwise personalised, they generally can't simply be returned because the wrong size, colour or garment was selected.
Before approving a personalised workwear order, check:
Garment
Is it definitely the product you want?
Colour
Is the correct colour selected?
Sizes
Have employee sizes been checked?
Quantities
Do the totals match what you need?
Logo and artwork
Is the correct version being used?
Branding position
Is the logo going in the correct place?
Taking a few minutes to check these details can prevent costly mistakes later.
Creating workwear your team actually wants to wear
Good workwear should do more than put your company logo on your employees.
It should make your team feel comfortable, help them perform their roles, create a consistent professional appearance and reinforce your company's identity whenever they're representing the business.
Start with the practical requirements of your team, choose suitable garments, get the sizing right and then use branding to bring everything together.
And if you're not sure where to begin, you don't have to work it all out yourself.
At Monkey Business Workwear, we can help you choose suitable garments, compare options and find the right embroidery or print solution for your business.