FROM FIELDS TO FASHION: THE STORY OF OVERALLS

Overalls, originally designed as protective garments for laborers, have transformed through history from utilitarian workwear into a powerful symbol of adaptability and self-expression. Rooted in the industrial heritage of durability and function, overalls were once the uniform of manual laborers, crafted from hardwearing materials like denim and canvas to withstand the physical demands of work. The term “overalls” once referred to various garments, both under - and outerwear. Over time, it came to mean bib overalls (or dungarees), featuring a bib attached to trousers, the style most recognized today.

1916 Women’s Overalls Sewing Pattern

Before World War I, overalls were mostly worn by men or as children’s playsuits. When women entered the workforce during the war, safer workwear was needed, sparking new designs. After each war, overalls for women became more fashionable, adding features like sweetheart necklines, cinched waists, and flared legs in lightweight fabrics, while durable denim and canvas remained for work. This split between practical workwear and fashion overalls continues today.

Ph: Spencer Beebe, Pascagoula, Mississippi, 1943.

In the 1960s, civil rights activists wore denim overalls, associated with sharecropping, both for practicality and as a symbol of protest. Overalls could withstand the abuse of tear gas, attack dogs, and hoses, and helped activists connect with working-class Black communities to encourage voter registration something risky and life-threatening at the time. At the same time, respectability politics encouraged well-dressed protesters to appeal to white audiences and protect themselves from violence. Activists balanced both approaches: suits for strategic presentation, denim for solidarity and protest. Denim became a symbol of Black freedom, later appropriated by mainstream fashion, which erased its original context. Styles like the Levi’s Trucker jacket, introduced in the 1960s, echoed garments long worn by working-class sharecroppers, inspiring the all-denim looks of later youth movements.

Civil Rights Movement, Washington DC, 1963.

Julie Christie, Heathrow Airport, October 1973.

Fashion photography by Elisabeth Novick, 1970.

The modern-day overalls made a huge comeback in the ’90s, still tied to activism, but mostly worn for style. They fit the decade’s relaxed grunge look; baggy, one strap undone, worn with flannels or tees and were also central to hip-hop’s oversized streetwear style. Celebrities, musicians, and TV characters popularized them further, making overalls both a casual essential and a symbol of ’90s subcultures that later inspired designers.

In the 2000s, overalls carried their casual, youthful energy into the Y2K era. They appeared in countless streetwear and fast-fashion variations, from shortalls and low-rise bibs to embellished or logoed denim, and were popular in vintage and everyday styling. At the same time, high-fashion designers began reinterpreting the silhouette in refined fabrics and tailored shapes, transforming the once utilitarian garment into a modern statement piece. While couture houses rarely centered entire collections on overalls, many incorporated their bib fronts, straps, and utility pockets into elevated ready-to-wear looks, blending practicality with early-2000s luxury minimalism.

The cultural evolution of overalls reflects broader societal shifts, as they moved from factories and fields to fashion runways and city streets. This transformation mirrors the dynamic nature of labor itself, once confined to rigid definitions, now reshaped by creativity, flexibility, and individualism. MODYSSEY reimagines overalls with sleek silhouettes and versatile designs that balance comfort and style. No longer limited to the workplace, they transition effortlessly between professional, casual, and artistic settings, embodying the fluidity of identity in today’s world.

Some iconic looks from runway shows of the 1990s and 2000s.

Jean Paul Gaultier, RTW, Spring/Summer, 1993