The choice of the color blue to describe a certain type of worker came about because among industrial and manual workers, blue cloth was durable and didn’t show the dirt and grime that were frequently a part of laborious employment.
Contrast the blue shirts of manual laborers with the white shirts of those who work in offices all over the country. A white shirt and tie has been the unofficial uniform of white collar workers for the last century. White-collar workers generally perform non-manual labor, frequently in an office, and for a salary. White-collar workers in Working would include:
Amanda, the project manager
“I answer messages and email—and try to avoid my boss.”
and Rex, the hedge fund manager
“Money-management is still the sexiest job there is.”
