Tiny House builder and former House Rules contestant Aimee Stanton is helping Aussie women feel confident and comfortable on the tools with her new line of female-focused workwear.
Zadie Workwear has made it their mission to “redefine womens attire”, with offerings made for the women stuck wearing gear designed for the male-dominated industry.
Having dealt with her fair share of worksite wedgies, baggy crotches and tight thighs over her 12 years as a plumber, a fed-up Stanton knew that women everywhere in the trade were likely just as uncomfortable on the job.
“Nothing ever fitted me,” she told Build-it.
“I was wearing my dad’s clothes on the job site and nothing ever fitted right. I was like, this can’t be all there is.”
Launching her quest to find the perfect fit, Stanton surveyed more than 2000 women across the trade industry about their work wear. Unsurprisingly, only 7 per cent were actually happy with their current gear.
“I then started to talk to more women in construction. I found out no one really liked the current ranges and nothing, fitted them,” she said.
Seeing a chance to make a real difference for women like her in the workplace, Aimee has spent the last two and a half years researching and testing different products to create a fit that she says is “second to none”.
“I spent a lot of time trying on workwear out there at the moment, seeing how we could make clothes that contours and fits on your hip and butt. There always seemed to be so much gaping at the back of the women’s clothes and super tight around the thigh,” she told Build-it.
“It’s always so hard to get the exact fit for woman because everyone’s body is completely different. Thats why I’ve created a few different products that fit all different types of sizes and shapes.”
Built for women, by women
Having spent over a decade with a toolbelt around her waist, Aimee knows better than most what it takes to make it as a lady tradie in the male-dominated world of plumbing.
“I started off studying beauty therapy and it was just horrible,” she told Build-it about her choice to enter the trade back in 2012.
“I remember I was out one night and someone said, “Oh, women can’t be tradies,”.”
“And I thought back to my dad, who’s a builder, and I remember we were at the servo and getting ice cream and he said, “You can’t have the magnum that’s the plumber’s ice cream, only plumbers can afford magnums you know,”.”
“So it was always in the back of my head, what’s this plumbing job? They get paid well so they can afford magnums and I get to work with my hands?”
“I quit beauty therapy and I applied for 120 jobs. I heard back from one.”
After landing the gig, Stanton started her uphill battle onsite as the only female apprentice in what she calls “the week from hell”.
“I had the worst first week. I got my head stuck in a scaffold, crashed my car through the job site fence, got a piece of metal stuck in my butt… I’m surprised I didn’t get fired,” she told Build-it.
“You would always get those stares and it’s like you had to prove yourself on the job site all the time.”
“But I understood it because I worked with a few older men on the site, and they’re just not used to seeing women on the job site. So I didn’t take it to offence.”
Fast forward to today, and Aimee has come a long way from those early days on the job site. Since then, her successful plumbing career has helped her launch her own building company, Tiny Stays, and even feature in reality shows House Rules and Australian Survivor.
With her latest Zadie Workwear now hitting the shelves, Aimee hopes the female-focused clothing line will give women entering the trade the confidence and comfort she wished she had all those years ago.
“Just give it a crack,” she told Build-it.
“If you’re scared or have a not-so-great start like I did, don’t be afraid to just go out and try it.”
