Bib Overalls: Function and Fashion

Abstract

In the capricious world of fashionable dress, bib overalls have epitomized a comparatively slow-changing, functional clothing design for most of their 160-year history. Despite an uncertain origin, bib overalls once served as the uniform for millions of American workers and as an economic mainstay for manufacturers and retailers of work clothing. For more than a century, photos, advertisements, and paintings depicted laboring men, in both agriculture and industry, as the primary wearers of bib.overalls. Some women also adopted bib overalls for work wear starting in the 1910s, and children have worn them for playwear since the early twentieth century. Durable, comfortable, economical bib overalls have proven not only practical but also, in turn, Depression-resistant and patriotic. By the late twentieth century, retailers sold standard-style overalls to laborers and farmers and offered fashionable variants for sport and leisure. 1 Although both American and British scholars have studied work clothing, bib over~lls have yet to receive their due. Publications may show dungarees and coveralls in lieu of bib overalls, or images of bib overalls may appear with no significant identification or commentary. Some

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