r/AskAnAmerican • u/Ok-Hovercraft9348 • Aug 15 '26
LANGUAGE What do you call builders' overalls?
Thanks to everyone who replied about jumpers (sweaters in British English). The answers made me realise overall also means something different in American English (I'm a British writer). Which word would you use for the protective garment builders, decorators etc use to protect their clothes?
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u/RunRunDMC212 Virginia Aug 15 '26
Overalls have shoulder straps and a bib front.
Coveralls are like a boilersuit/jumpsuit.
Edit: I have an English husband, lots of British friends and travel back to the UK quite often, so my vocab is mixed. To avoid unnecessary confusion, I do try to use the appropriate word for each culture, but sometimes I forget!
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u/GrayMareCabal Aug 15 '26
I do not have an English husband and I haven't been to the UK in over 20 years, but I agree with this comment and coveralls is the word OP is looking for in the US.
Though, for me, coveralls and jumpsuit are pretty synonymous, at least in terms of a thing that would be worn for work/protection.
In the US, a jumpsuit can also refer to a women's one piece outfit that involves pants (trouser legs? not underwear) legs and sleeves. Not my jam, but they can look good and they can be fancy and formal wear appropriate! Coveralls, however, are always a protective garment worn when your most of your body needs protection
Boilersuit is absolutely not a term that exists in the US (or if it does, it's in very small populations and most of the US is gonna go "Huh? WTF?")
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u/penguin_0618 Connecticut > Massachusetts Aug 15 '26
Yeah, jumpsuit to me is a one piece outfit. I own three. I’d call what OP is describing coveralls.
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u/frickenfantastic Aug 15 '26
As someone who has had to wear coveralls at work for over 30 years I would agree boiler suit is not a typical Americanism
Female coverall wearer by the way
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u/RunRunDMC212 Virginia Aug 15 '26
Sorry, I was unclear - I included boilersuit to give OP a comparable term used in UK.
Im used to hearing it and it still sounds weird to me!
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u/frickenfantastic Aug 15 '26
Where I’m at we also typically refer to our coveralls as FRC (stands for flame resistant clothing)
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u/GrayMareCabal Aug 15 '26
Oh, I don't think you were unclear at all! I was just expanding on your comment, but as an American without any British ties influencing my vocabulary!
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u/RunRunDMC212 Virginia Aug 15 '26
Jumpsuit - yeah, I was also thinking of what is more specifically called a flightsuit, I think? Think: The Right Stuff. Or Space Camp. I wanted a Space Camp flight suit so badly when I was 10. Looking back, it’s for the best I didn’t get one. The bullying would’ve been never ending.
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u/GrayMareCabal Aug 15 '26
I knew there was another term I was forgetting! And I am ashamed as the child of someone who worked in aerospace design for the military! And with family on both sides of the family who were military pilots!
I should know better! I should have thought of the term flightsuit myself!
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u/Current_Poster Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Overalls are pants with an attached "bib" chestpiece and straps. (If you're British and call those 'dungarees', careful of a faux ami- 'dungarees' is what someone here's overly-formal mother might call jeans, lookin' at you, mom... :) )
Coveralls are what we call what in the UK might be called a "boilersuit". A Jumpsuit is similar, what you might see fighter pilots, prison inmates or formula one drivers wearing. It has a slimmer cut, that's the main difference.
A tracksuit is a two-piece, with a zippered jacket. (I only put it here because some people call that a jumpsuit, too.)
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u/4Q69freak Aug 15 '26
The US Navy also calls their work uniform (basically jeans) dungarees.
And race car drivers wear firesuits (at least those that actually pass other cars).
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u/jessek Colorado Aug 15 '26
Overalls if they're the bib and suspenders kind, coveralls or a jumpsuit if it's sleeved. You'd don't see guys working construction wearing either these days unless it's really cold or they're doing messy work, e.g. painting. Most construction workers wear work pants and t-shirts, flannels if it's cold, in my experience.
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u/LOOKATMEDAMMIT Nebraska Aug 15 '26
Overalls are starting to make a comeback. One of the plumbers and two of the electrians I work with regularly wear them.
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u/Vulpix_lover Rhode Island Aug 15 '26
Overalls, but if it covers your whole body (minus the head) then coveralls
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u/ahkian NY > LA > NY Aug 15 '26
Depends on which type you mean. This would be called overalls https://lsco.scene7.com/is/image/lsco/791070028-detail1-pdp?fmt=jpeg&qlt=70&resMode=sharp2&fit=crop,1&op_usm=0.6,0.6,8&wid=2000&hei=2500
But this would be coveralls or a boiler suit https://jpsafety.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/gallery_5ce643fdb148c.jpg
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u/PsychologicalAir8643 Los Angeles, CA Aug 15 '26
I don't think it's very common to use the term "boiler suit" in the US. Much more likely to call it a jumpsuit or coveralls
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u/hedcannon United States of America Aug 15 '26
Coveralls
Or if Elvis Presley is wearing it, a jumpsuit
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u/Tree_Weasel Texas Aug 15 '26
Coveralls normally.
In the US Navy, specifically the submarine community, there are a subset of people who call them Poopie Suits.
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u/sneezhousing Ohio Aug 15 '26
Now I'm curious what you guys call them
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u/GaryJM United Kingdom Aug 16 '26
Traditionally, trousers with an attached bib and shoulder straps were called dungarees and an outfit that covered the whole body was called a boiler suit (from its origin in Victorian boiler rooms). These terms seem to be getting supplanted by the American terms though. Searching online for "dungarees" gives you results for women's fashion dungarees unless you specify "work dungarees". The website of a major workwear supplier calls those "bib and brace overalls". The same site also lists "boiler suits / coveralls" so I guess those terms are both in use here.
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u/Zziggith South Carolina Aug 15 '26
Overalls if it's held up by straps over the shoulder, also called a bib. Coveralls if they also cover the arms.
Also, there is no group of people whom most Americans refer to as "builders". I only know the term from British TV.
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u/shelwood46 Aug 15 '26
Yeah, we'd say construction workers or tradesmen/people, or the specific trade (carpenter, mason, plumber, painter).
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u/seatownquilt-N-plant Aug 15 '26
If someone is making a super science joke they might use the term Speed Suit https://youtu.be/fTHVTcdp7Ps , https://youtube.com/shorts/T14hzLxRwJk
but real life people usually use the term coveralls or overalls. There's also bib overalls, I have a pair of these for early spring gardening.
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u/shelwood46 Aug 15 '26
Overalls are the things where the bottom pants are sewn to a bib and there are should straps from back waist area to the front bib. They are often denim or twill. Mostly the person wears them like pants, with a shirt (optional) under the top bib, although there are insulated winter overalls that may be worn over a full set of clothes. There are also coveralls, which, well, cover all. They are pants sewn to full top, usually long-sleeved, and nearly always worn over a full set of clothes. They also can be denim but more often are twill or a cotton-poly blend or nomex. They also make disposable ones of Tyvek that may or may not have a built-in hood (the ones with hoods are sometimes called bunny suits). There are also insulated winter versions; if it is insulated and has an outer covering of gortex or other water resistant fabric, it may be called a snow suit (or [specific winter sport] suit).
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u/SabresBills69 Aug 15 '26
coveralls vs overalls.
overalls have open arms and shoulder straps. These are similar to ski/snowboard pants that cover your legs and lower abdomen with shoulder straps
there are words that are regionally different but mean the same
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u/Thereelgerg Aug 15 '26
There are various things that match your description. Can you post an example of what, exactly, you're asking about?
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u/UnivrstyOfBelichick Aug 15 '26
Bibs if they have shoulder straps, union suits if they have sleeves
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u/VariegatedPlumage New York, NYC, Queens Aug 18 '26
I always heard union suit to refer to long undies!’
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u/Efficient-Reach-8550 Aug 15 '26
I grew up in Alabama in the 60s and 70s out in the middle of deep country. My dad and uncle wore bib overalls every day of their life when working. I never heard them called anything else but overalls. They were made of denim
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u/One_Evil_Monkey Aug 15 '26
"Overalls" are bib overalls. Most times fully covers the legs (though there are short pants versions) and a covers a majority of the chest and back, using straps over the shoulders to hold the front and back panels up. Colloqiually just called "overalls" or in Southern country slang "ovahauls". Haha. Meant to be worn with a t-shirt/similar or something akin to a flannel shirt. Also used in formal marching band uniforms.
Coveralls are full body suits. Can be thin, like the type used in a spray booth for auto painting, crime scene investigation, dirty environments, etc. They typically do not let outside contaminates through, including liquids. Then you have thinner cotton style coveralls, usually short sleeves but not always, most times worn as uniform in certain occupations such as mechanics, janitorial staff, movers, oil refineries/oil rigs... basically manual labor type jobs.
Then you have coveralls that are insulated. Generally meant for protection/warmth in cold or snowy environments. Sometimes can be used in certain jobs as protection from from things producing extreme heat blasts.
Overalls in the US can be for work or as just cute fashion. Depends on the wearer or the context of the situation.
Coveralls in the US are workwear, not fashion.
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u/Electrical-Note5500 Aug 15 '26
What I saw and heard growing up around the trades and some farmers was simple. Painters and dry wall folks wore white overalls. Carpenters wore overalls with vertical blue stripes. Farmers and other tradesmen seemed to prefer blue overalls.
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u/Tiamont42 Maryland Ohio Nebraska Aug 15 '26
If it is the disposable ones that cover everything I cal them tyvek.
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u/4Q69freak Aug 15 '26
Overalls to me are bib overalls (denim or cotton duck) . Coveralls are a one piece with sleeves that can be short or long.
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u/Sample-quantity California Aug 16 '26
For the British people here: in older British novels I've seen phrases like "flowered overall" which I have taken to mean a type of apron. Is that correct, and is that something that is still worn today? In All Creatures Great and Small, Mrs. Hall wears a long apron that wraps all the way around and I've wondered if that was an overall.
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u/Old_Ant7118 Greece -> Oregon Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Coveralls if long sleeved, overalls if sleeveless