How many of you wear them? I have found over the past 40 years that they outlast all other work clothes and are comfortable. I have bought mine from Penny's most of the time but now and then I have gotten some from Walmart. The pockets are big and deep and i can carry a lot of paqrts and pieces in them. the hammer loop is always on the left side and I am a south paw so it works for me, it must be about the only thing made for a left handed person. I have 8 pairs, the newest are 4 years old but, in the past few years I have spread out a little so they do not fit as well but they fit my wife so she has taken over the collection. I have an old pair that I bought 16 years ago but last summer they were worn by our scarecrow, they are still servicable and hang in the shop. As I type this, I am wearing 501 Levis, (my second choice). My only problem with Bibs are that the legs are a little to floppy and tend to get caught on the tractor gear shift and other controls. Are there any comments out there?

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), June 08, 2000

Answers

I like bibs, but I don't like the button fly!

-- Jim Roberts (jroberts1@cas.org), June 08, 2000.

From a gals point of view these are fine for around the farm, and with a shirt please! Unless you have pecks and arms like David Robinson or? The biggest problem is keeping them clean and not wearing them to town! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 08, 2000.

I have a pair of Keyes and a pair of Carhartts that I wear. I find them absolutely comfortable and useful....EXCEPT...being female, they are a nuisance to wear anytime I have to use the restroom! Keg parties in college were problematic, as I recall....I recommend skirts or dresses for those occasions...!!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 08, 2000.

Vicki , you now have my thoughts to a well built man shirtless in overalls ! It's a nice picture ! O.K. back to the garden I go .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), June 08, 2000.

My husband wears bibs, he looks mighty fine in them, too. His latest pair has a zippe fly instead of buttons. They came from Big Blue Store.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.

I shop a lot at Good Will & the like--& have found a few pair of bibs- -made cutoffs out of one pair! My hubby doesn't like them, for him self! I wear them to do chores, etc. or where I don't want my other jeans ruined! Have one pair I save & wear to our old hippie gatherings! ha! Sonda in ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), June 08, 2000.

I don't wear them because they don't fit will on a large-busted woman, and also, the bathroom problem someone mentioned!! They were made for men!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 08, 2000.

Kathleen, you are right...and they don't fit women's hips well either. I always liked the handy pockets, but now I just make do with the 2 in front and 2 in back. If I need more, I hook on this handy web belt with a variety of pockets and hooks. Its big enough to hold a cold drink if I need to! I keep specific "play pants" and am certain not to be seen in town w/them, or by the neighbors for that matter!

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), June 08, 2000.

Two pairs, no idea what brand. Tears and way too big for me, paint splatters, you name it. I wear them when there are tools involved, put two handfuls of nails in the pockets, and off I go. As to what they look like, who cares. Most days I only see the mailman and my kids. I don't have great pecs, or biceps, but I'll wear 'em with a tank top nonetheless. (cuts down on my short sleeves "farmer" tan)

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), June 08, 2000.

my 70 years old father lives in them and i gave him 2 paires for christmas, because he wears them out that fast. Me, i live in short-alls all summer. I can carry siccores and other job related stuff in the big pockets.

-- cindy (redhen@fiberia.com), June 08, 2000.

I find them very comfortable when I get to wear them. My wife seems to misplace them in her drawer. I have 3 pairs. Everytime I wear them now the hip area seems to be stretched. This adds to the baggy problem.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), June 08, 2000.

My Hubby's favorite outfit of choice is composed of Dickies brand work pants and a t-shirt. He says his coveralls are comfy, but he likes his belt, to hang his pager and Gerber multi-tool from; hates to go looking for them, I guess. I don't wear pants, so a denium skirt and t-shirt is the outfit of choice for me, too. I get along with it just fine!

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), June 09, 2000.

Joel, shame on you! I'm telling your wife on you!

Leann, I agree with you. Skirts are comfier! But I have to go thruogh barb-wire fences and we have ticks like mad around here and it's 0 to -20 in the winter so.. I have to do jeans all to often.

As for the bibbies,I don't like the things in the top pocket falling in me face every time I bend over! Other wise I think they are quite comfy. How hard can it be to go potty? And if it's so hard why do we make our toddlers wear so many similar 1 piece outfits?

-- Novina West (lamb@stellarnet.com), June 09, 2000.

I love my bib-overalls! They are my preferred item of wear. Big pockets, hammer loop, no "contractor crack" which my wife (and I'm sure my neighbors too!) highly appreciates, and pockets to keep a pen and checkbook handy when I go to town, etc.

Liberty brand seems to fit my odd shaped body better and is my preferred brand for that reason, and the legs aren't "floppy". However my Dickies seem to last longer though they have real "floppy" legs on 'em, and I catch them on stuff too.

The only thing I miss about my jeans is that the overalls don't have anyplace to hang my Leatherman off of.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), June 09, 2000.

I used to love bib overalls. Dad liked the striped ones. I liked the blue. However they got so darn expensive and dont show up much at thrift shops. So I am left with cheap jeans made by slave labor in outer wherever(zippers always break) or jeans/uniform pants from thrift shops. My now ex used to get upset when I'd buy '70s polyester pants, $2 all you could get in a bag at thift shop sale. (This was in 80's) Ugly, slimey feeling against skin, but wear like iron and very lightweight. Just dont ever weld while wearing synthetic fabrics. Believe me!!

-- Hermit John (ozarkhermit@pleasedontspamme.com), June 09, 2000.

Leann and Novina, I like to wear skirts too. In fact I like the straight dresses without a waist..althought that makes it too easy to put on a few pounds. They just make me feel a lot happier and more attractive. When working in the garden though I always have a favorite pair of baggy jeans and a long sleeve white cotton (thin) shirt. My grandfather lived in southern Louisianna on the banks of the Mississippi and he never went out without a long sleeve white shirt! He said it kept him cooler. It does indeed and it also keeps the bugs from biting! I found the perfect on at a yard sale this spring and have named it my bean picking shirt! Wore it last night to put up the fence between the rows. Had to pull the tomato cages out of the poisin ivy so was real glad that the sleeves covered the arms! Am on the lookout for a pair of overalls though. I'm the only one in the family that doesn't have any. I think they're hard to find with roomy hips!

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), June 09, 2000.

Novina, drop a strap into the toilet once after you have used it, and you will see why bibs and the potty thing don't always jibe! I have to undo a strap to get out of the darn things...otherwise they are wonderful to wear. BTW, I am built like a flag pole...sometimes I wish I had some of those other figure shapes mentioned above!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 09, 2000.

Novina, we put overalls on toddlers because usually they don't really have a waist and it's hard to keep pants up on them! And it's hard to find suspenders for such little people! I had forgotten, because I haven't worn them in several years, but I do have a pair of Carrhart overalls that a friend gave me when we were living in Alaska -- she had 'grown out' of them, and they were already well used. I wore them for snow pants in the winter, even though they aren't the insulated kind -- over my regular pants and long underwear, they kept me warm enough even at seventy below with a wind chill, as long as I kept moving. They are frayed around the bottoms, but still useable, if I need them. Sheepish, I've done that -- dropped the strap into the toilet, I mean!! Yuck!!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 10, 2000.

I never go any place with out my bibs.

-- Okie-Dokie (www.tommycflinstone@aol.com), June 10, 2000.

The way i handle the trips to the outhouse is I stick the strap ends in the back pocket so they don't fall in.

Big Mac which is the Penny's brand are a Cotton-Poly blend and wear a long time.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), June 11, 2000.

I wear overalls a lot. And I've dunked more than one strap in the toilet over the years (WHY does that never happen at home? There's no way to hide what you've done!) By the time I get them big enough to fit in some areas, the rest of the areas are pretty baggy and the crotch is periously close to my knees (tying knots in the straps helps). The cuffs are usually haphazardly rolled to slightly reduce the tripping problems. Lots of nice pockets-just remember to keep the bibber ones snapped. I wear them to town, even to the big city. In Boston once some "wag" was yelling "Hey, Mr Greenjeans" at me. So what. Brand is whatever they have at the particular farm supply store I'm at at the time. On rare occasions when I can find them I pull in the legs with velcro-ended straps sold for bicylists. More often I'll use whatever kind of tape I find first. But mostly I don't have any problems with the floppy legs. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 11, 2000.

I LOVE BIBS!! I always get mine two sizes too big and don't undo the straps to use the restroom and I don't get my straps in the pot that way. I put my leatherman in the right rear pocket, whatever else I need in all the other pockets. I am always climbing over, under, up on, inside and around things and don't get hooked on stuff very often.I only have caught the hammer loop and a strap on my press at work, at home I don't get stuck on things.

I have a bunch of bibs, but I have found that I don't care for the Dickies brand as they are truly cut for a man, hips were not in the designers mind at all! The best fitting ones for a women that I have found are the Utility brand from Target. Not made in China, but someother third world country. Guatemala and El Salvador I believe.

The left hand hammer loop has always annoyed me to no end, why do they do it that way? It's great for you Hendo, but when you're lying prostrate on a hot tin roof trying to hold a twelve foot piece of galvanized in position and holding a nail at the ready with your left hand, it is a pain.

-- Doreen (livinginskin@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.

I love my bibs. My wife hates them. They are comfortable, to wear, pockets everywhere, no butt crackage problems. They can be used for most types of work, but my wife hates them. Dont know why, she just does. So I wear them and she hates them.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), June 15, 2000.

I LOVE bib overalls. I have about 15 pairs. I seem to get a new one every year. They're comfortable and cool. I think they look great too. I love my Liberty's, Washington Dee Cee's, and old Lee's from the 50's. Too many men are self conscious about wearing them- They became my trade mark- I would never go on a trip without a pair. And contrary to Vicki's dumb statement- they SHOULD be worn to town and I have the pecs (and everything else) to fill my overalls with out a shirt. Overalls rock!

-- Sean R (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001.

farm BOY, I wasn't talking about dressing our little boys in overalls! Patty and I were talking about MEN in overalls!

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001.

Sorry grandma, I was talking about men too. I am 27.

-- Sean R (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001.

Not to start a fight here, but since when does being 27 (a little boy, really!!! ) make anyone a man!!!! I've known guys that were MEN at eighteen -- and others that were still little boys at 70 -- age has nothing to do with maturity!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), January 04, 2001.

She started the argument, i believe Vicki owes me an apology! The same goes to women too, no doubt!

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001.

" And contrary to Vicki's dumb statement" end quote. Who owes whom and apology? And I am much looking forward to being a grandmother! Common Sean, perhaps you need to loosen them straps on your bibs. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

I did not know that people went back through the archives looking at posts and respond 8 months later. I bought a new pair of Dickies bibs last month and ahd to move upfrom a 38 to a 40, I had worn 38s for 20 years.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), January 05, 2001.

Vicki,

You just need to learn some manners- You're rude. You have really bad grammar too- go back to kindergarten- nimrod! My overalls straps fit just fine, thanks.

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

hummmmmm-new child in town?????

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

"You have really bad grammar too"

Should not that read, you have really bad grammar "also?"

Well just have to get out to the barn, kidding season is in full swing, 14 bucklings and a doe kid! Yeeks! Thanks Diane and Kathleen. Hendo, Dickies are the brand my husband used to wear, right now he looks like an advertisement for Carhart! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

"Too" means the same as "also".

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

I look pretty rippin' too, in my bibs! I would get arrested for wearing them without a shirt though...(LOL) I wear Carhartts for when I have really hard work to do, and brand X for knocking around in. The Carhartts are usually pretty hot (so thick) for work around here, but they do the trick very well. If I am working around any kind of fencing or machinery, I usually wear them. My next investment is a one piece lined worksuit or maybe an angora union suit! I had better start saving!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), January 05, 2001.

It's evident that the girls (age doesn't make one mature): Vicki, Kathleen and Diane, have NO MANNERS! Rather than greeting a new friend, they attack like vicious sharks! Put those teeth away- I'm only a little 27 year old boy!!!!

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

Sean: "New friends" don't usually start right out calling people's comments dumb, unless of course they are little boys on the playground. I remember those days--sorry, new child on the block-I didn't recognize that long ago "friendly gesture". Welcome.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

Heart warming Diane! really, I have tingles! Can only imagine what you'd say if I said something about YOUR post.

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 05, 2001.

Geesh!

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), January 05, 2001.

Sean, you are welcome to be here. Set yourself down, put your feet up and make yourself at home. I'm a 48-year-old woman who happens to like 27-year-old men (and others, including my 48-year-old spouse!)

I'm sure you'll have some good stuff to contribute when we need your help. It's still a free country (last time I looked which was early on Nov. 7th, though!!) LOL. No need to worry about what anyone else thinks. Just note that we are all pretty much polite on this forum, even when we get a little hot under the collar, as on some of the other threads. You'll get used to it.

-- sheepish (WA) (rborgo@ge.net), January 05, 2001.

Thank You, Sheepish. Finally, a warm welcome!

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

Ahem....is it safe to make a comment? My husband loves to wear bibs and I love to see him in them! He fills them out in all the right places. He works all week in dress clothes in an office, so ,on the weekends, he loves to get in his bibs and get outside to do some chores.

-- Ardie in WI (a6203@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

That's great- positive feedback! Overalls look best when they are filled right. People tell me I wear them too much, but they look good.

-- Sean (farmboy1973@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

I love overalls too I wear them every day. I love the handy pockets especially the bib pockets which are big and there are many of them. I carry many things in them including my pet mouse and I used to pop my dog in them when he was a new born and small enough. But things tend to fall out if you lean over to far so I try to pack things down deep. I think that overalls are great. Go to www.geocities.com/overalls100

-- M (sgoku124kao@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.

I LOVE bibs. But where i live, teenage boys like myself aren't "cool" if they wear bibs. I haven't ever seen teen boys here in Denmark wear overalls. What a shame. I have 3 pairs I like to wear just around the house. And for working they are perfect! Lots of pockets. I just hope they'll never stop making them.

-- Lars Hansen (blue@grass.as), April 24, 2001.

Hi I love bib overalls, My daughter loves them more. You see she likes to play with the bib pockets. She Loves them, something facinates her about the fact that when something slides in only a lump remains, and it is never seen again until I take it out. I have to hold her a lot. When ever I have change or a cell phone or whatever she says "Me put in mommys pocket!" then she puts it in and I have to hold her, then she keeps patting the pocket to make them gingle and she laughs. then she says to people on the street pointing at my bib, "coins, phone ect...in mommys pocket!" Shes only 4 so I dont blame her but I have to carry her a lot of the time. And I always were my overalls so she can play with the bib pockets but hey its ok. And when she gets fussy or cranky I say "look ____in my bib pocket." and shes entertained for the next few mins or how long I hold her. Patting the lump. But shes not interested in her overalls I just find bugs in HER bib pockets ewww! E-mail me, Please!

-- (kiith_paktuo@hotmail.com), May 01, 2001.

I wear brown carhartt unlined bib overalls over my Levi 501's all the time. I feel naked in anything less. Bill

-- Bill Laskowski (WMLASK@yahoo.com), May 29, 2001.

i've been wearing bib overalls for over twenty years now.i've had them all from the tradtional to the fashion variety. they are the most practical and the most comfortable piece of clothing ever made.my favorites are my stonewashed lee's which have been available for the past two to three years. i also like my penney's arizone brand with the triple side buttons. i also have mu old oshkosh's as a standby. overalls are great for traveling, hiking, working and just about anything else under the sun. my wife also wears overalls and shortalls, but not on the same scale as i do.

-- kerry c (kepaco@hotmail.com), June 10, 2001.

Do they still make Washington Dee-Cees? My old Grandpa used to wear 'lo-backs'. I love my bibs...just wore out another pair of Carhartts (MADE IN THE U.S. OF A.) CHEERS!

-- Douglas (guilford_courthouse@hotmail.com), August 08, 2001.

Well, they're a nuisance if you have to set to use the toilet but I love bib overalls for virtually any sort of outside work. Mine are Sear's and I'll go to Libertys as soon as I find some place locally that sells them.

I carry my Leatherman, Mini-Mag, pocket watch and a pen in the bib pockets and that works just fine. It fascinates my toddler daughter to play with everything when I'm holding her. I really like the fact that they don't bind at the waist when you're carrying heavy stuff so putting a tool belt on over the overalls stays comfortable all day. I've also discovered they're great for long distance driving for the same reason even if they do look a tad strange at times.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), August 09, 2001.

I LIVE in my shorts during the summer, but during the winter, overalls are a must. To get past the toilet problem, I have removed the inside seams on the legs of my overalls and inserted two very large zippers ( one down the inside of each leg). This way I can unzip them and use the toilet without straps getting in the way and my pockets dumping. This is VERY handy during deer season when I used to have to remove my orange vest, my several layers of jackets, then my overalls. (Ususally in the middle of no-where, in the freezing cold!) It works great for me!!

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), August 09, 2001.

I guess I just can't let the 80s fade. I still have my all the music, my leather pants, and of course my Guess? overalls. I actually have three pairs. One light denim, one dark, and a black pair. I wear them occasionally, and my girlfriend tells me she thinks they look "cute" on me.

-- Drew (Sargonr@aol.com), August 31, 2001.

I love to wear the lined coveralls I gave my husband last christmas. I'd love a pair of overalls but like hermit john am too cheap to get a new pair. Looking for a broke-in but not too broke in pair that fits (hard to find, long legs). We keep OLD oLD cotton long sleeve shirts (two generations old) around for use in the summer. The cotton is so thin it breathes. Anyhoo. One day I noticed after I'd been out in the garden awhile that my cotton shirt was absolutely see- through when I was in the sunshine (something I hadn't noticed while changing in my bedroom). I'd might have well gone out there in one of those nighties. Who knows how many neighbors have been over while I'd been in the garden before (you know swapping produce, farm equipment) Needless to say, I don't wear those anymore--but I guess I could with some bibs!

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), August 31, 2001.

I own a pair of blue guess overalls and they are great! Does anyone know where I can get another pair (preferably black) in size small for men?

-- Mike (overalls2001_2001@yahoo.com), October 27, 2001.

I wear bib overalls because I like the comfort.I like ridged blue denim the best. My favorite pair have an exposed zipper up the front all the way to the top of the bib. I can't find them any more and would appreciate input on where I could find them.The reason I like them the best is because they are so easy to put on and take off.

'

-- JON P LANGHOUT (buddyl@lvcm.com), January 28, 2002.

(Gee, at the start of this thread, I was still 48....I'll be 50 in a coupla months...Do you suppose this is the oldest running "current" thread?)!

-- sheepish (WA) (the_original_sheepish@Hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Sheepish, it also makes me out to be very mean :) A thread deserving to be deleted! HA! It was fun at the time, but its hard to read it now in the context it was actually in, with our little snot nosed kid also posting on other threads being obnoxious. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Well Vicki, anyone who's read more than a few posts here *knows* how wonderful you are! You have been far more generous than most with giving good, friendly (and helpful!!) advice!

-- sheepish (WA) (the_original_sheepish@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Greetings! If there is still anyone out there, this is a pretty cool site..... I am 48 years old and have worn overalls for decades (in fashion or not) In WV they are ALWAYS fashionable. I am short and chubby and have to roll up the legs. I lose things in the pockets because I am daffy and forget which pocket I put stuff in. They are comfortable and cool in the summer and cover the stains on the fronts of my shirts. Bibs forever!!!

-- Shelly O'Brien (sob2251@aol.com), March 17, 2002.

Yes, Shelly, we are still here. I love my hand-me-down Oshkosh bibs. They were well broke in by a dairy farmer before I got them. I don't know how to get new ones as soft as these.

I wacked the legs short enough so I can tuck them into my mud boots and I do all my farmwork in them. It sure saves my shirt fronts and I can carry most of my stuff in the pockets.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 17, 2002.

hi

I am a 53 year old Dane living in Northern Norway and I just want to say that bib overalls are my favorite clothes, apparently contrary to many people in this part of the world. Last year I spent half a year in California and found a number of well worn bib overalls, Big Ben and Key, in a really nice thrift store in San Francisco. When I went to SF a month ago, I bought a new pair of black Ben Davis. I really enjoyed being able to walk around in SF in bibs all the time. If I was "strong" enough I would wear them all the time, but here in Norway and Scandinavia in general, you don't wear them in public, only at home and only on farms or if you are a craftsman. (By the way I am professor at the University) In addition you cannot buy the denim bib overalls here. It is only new goretex like types unless you are a pregnant woman. So I have really enjoyed reading the long and ever lasting discussion on this very interesting site and listen to interesting people.

Niels

-- Niels Windfeld Lund (niels.windfeld.lund@hum.uit.no), May 06, 2002.

Glad you enjoy your bibs and this site, too. Amazing how the internet connects us. How's your weather in Northern Norway?

A somewhat-Dane, myself, (Grampa was from Denmark),

-- sheepish (the_original_sheepish@Hotmail.com), May 07, 2002.

hi sheepish

thanks

a week ago it was almost spring and the snow was gone, but two days ago it was snowing again, so we absolutely experience that we are living far north and not in Denmark right now perhaps my next bibs are going to be insulated !

niels

-- Niels Windfeld Lund (niels.windfeld.lund@hum.uit.no), May 07, 2002.