Overalls, How it all started

How I first got interested in coveralls

Published 29/04/2005

My father used to be the Managing Director of a large bread bakery. I had visited the bakery many times with my father and seen the workforce wearing coveralls. At the time, everyone wore khaki coloured, RAF style boilersuits or warehouse coats. I remember going into a room full of overalls, stacked high as far as the eye could see, in selves and piles on the floor, and every different shade khaki imaginable. After a while of wonderment, I noticed that in the centre of this cathedral to workwear were two old dears, sitting behind large industrial sewing machines, fighting, it seemed, the endless onslaught of overalls waiting to beĀ  repaired.

kahkiKhaki - Boiler suit.

During the School Summer holidays, my dad got me a job packing rolls in the bakery. This of course involved wearing the khaki boilersuits. I later found out that I was going to be working with a son of one of my dad's employees. I remembered that I had seen him once before and thought it would be fun. Well it turned out to be very hard and hot work; we were counting roles into baskets from a conveyor belt, just after they had come out of the oven, and where cooling down. It was so hot were wore nothing but our boilersuits.

The next summer, the factory had moved to a new building. The coveralls were now coloured by department.

maroon3Maroon - Maintenance

olivegreenGreen - Garage

white3White - Bakery

I got a job in the Maintenance department where I wore a maroon coverall. That's where I began to notice an interest in coveralls.


While still at school, I saved up my pocket money to buy my first overall. I still have it, is a blue nylon coverall, with red re-enforcing stitching. The collection grew from there. I must have easily over a hundred now.

I also have about 10 hard hats, all different colours, ear defenders, goggles, safety glasses, gloves etc.



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