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A jumpsuit is a one-piece garment with sleeves and legs and typically without integral coverings for feet, hands or head. The original jump suit is the functional one-piece
garment
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...
used by
parachuters.
The original skydivers' jumpsuits were simple garments designed to insulate the body from the colder temperature that's associated with higher altitudes and minimize the risk of covering important handles and grips. Today, however, the garment has found other uses.
Jumpsuits are generally regarded as a garment of convenience, especially for entertainers, as they are simpler, lighter and more flexible to wear. They have become more of a put on and remove garment than an ensemble outfit. However, unless the jumpsuit has an opening on the rear (a "
drop seat"), it is necessary to remove it entirely for bathroom use.
History of a jumpsuit
A jumpsuit is a one-piece dress which fits slim and covers the arms and legs. Its history goes back to 1919. It was created as a functional garment for parachuters to jump from planes. The
boiler suit
A boilersuit (or boiler suit), also known as coveralls, is a loose fitting garment covering the whole body except for the head, hands and feet.
Terminology
The term ''boilersuit'' is most common in the UK, where the 1989 edition of the ''Oxfo ...
and
dungarees were also used for a similar purpose.
Amongst the three utility wear garments (jumpsuits, boiler suits and dungarees) jumpsuits were the first one to become fashion wear. The reason was its slimmer cut.
In the 1930s, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli began designing jumpsuits for women. Her designs were the talk of the town but were worn by only a few.
Then came the sporty styles by the American designer Vera Maxwell in the mid-1940s. It was popular but was a novelty item.
During the Second World War, jumpsuits were worn by women for their usefulness.
In the 1950s, American designers like Bonnie Cashin started designing evening jumpsuits. But it was another decade before jumpsuits became popular as day and evening wear. The jumpsuit first appeared in
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
in September 1964.
Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche () (16 July 1921 – 17 February 1989) was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.
Biography
Laroche was born in La Rochelle, and began his career in millinery. From 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Dessè ...
wore a brown jersey jumpsuit paired with a sealskin jacket and it was photographed by Irving Penn. It became a popular trend within a few months and two “moon shot”-style jumpsuits in white jerseys featured as Vogue patterns in January 1965.
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The late 1960s and 1970s were very important years for the jumpsuit. They were made as sportswear, in leather one-pieces and also as embellished designs for evening. Jumpsuits found a place in every designer's designs. In the 1970s jumpsuit was a
unisex
Unisex is an adjective indicating something is not sex-specific, i.e. is suitable for any type of sex. The term can also mean gender-blindness or gender neutrality.
The term 'unisex' was coined as a neologism in the 1960s and was used fairly inf ...
outfit. Cher and Elvis wore some stylish jumpsuits during their stage performances. The famous American designer Geoffrey Beene called the jumpsuit “the ballgown of the next century”. But it became out of fashion for the next decade. Nicolas Ghesquière tried to bring it back in 2002 by designing it in different fabrics and patterns. Updated jumpsuit again gained popularity. And thus the style was relaunched. Easy to wear, versatile and a little bit feisty, the jumpsuit can be called a modern wardrobe staple.
Pilots and drivers
Aviators
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...
and
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
s sometimes wear insulated,
fire-retardant
A fire retardant is a substance that is used to slow down or stop the spread of fire or reduce its intensity. This is commonly accomplished by chemical reactions that reduce the flammability of fuels or delay their combustion. Fire retardants m ...
jumpsuits or
flight suit
A flight suit is a full-body garment, worn while flying aircraft such as military airplanes, gliders and helicopters. These suits are generally made to keep the wearer warm, as well as being practical (plenty of pockets), and durable (includi ...
s where other types of clothing can potentially float or flap about in
zero gravity
Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G.
Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...
or during
high-G maneuvers.
Drivers in
motor racing
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
wear jumpsuits for protection against fire (called a
fire suit
A racing suit or racing overalls, often referred to as a fire suit due to its fire retardant properties, is clothing such as overalls worn in various forms of auto racing by racing drivers, crew members who work on the vehicles during races, tra ...
) and (in the case of
motorcycle racers) leather suits for abrasion.
Prisoners
![CTS waist chains 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/CTS_waist_chains_02.jpg)
Jumpsuits are common as a
prison uniform
A prison uniform is the standardized clothes worn by prisoners. It usually includes visually distinct clothes worn to indicate the wearer is a prisoner, in clear distinction from civil clothing.
A prison uniform serves the purpose to make prison ...
, particularly in the United States. The clothing is a convenient way to determine who is an inmate and who is a corrections officer. Although bright orange uniforms are still in use, some institutions changed for other colors as orange jumpsuits became fashionable due to the influence of the Netflix series ''
Orange is the New Black
''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...
.'' Furthermore, color-coded uniforms are fairly commonly used where different colors signify the inmate's custody level or issues like gender, potential safety risks, disciplinary history, severity of current charges and past convictions. Some institutions even went back to striped uniforms to prevent escaped inmates from being mistaken for sanitation, utility or highway workers.
See also
*
Boilersuit
A boilersuit (or boiler suit), also known as coveralls, is a loose fitting garment covering the whole body except for the head, hands and feet.
Terminology
The term ''boilersuit'' is most common in the UK, where the 1989 edition of the ''Oxfo ...
*
Catsuit
A catsuit is a one-piece form-fitting garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, chiffon, spandex (after 1959), latex, or velour, but may use less elasti ...
*
Flight suit
A flight suit is a full-body garment, worn while flying aircraft such as military airplanes, gliders and helicopters. These suits are generally made to keep the wearer warm, as well as being practical (plenty of pockets), and durable (includi ...
*
Hazmat suit
A hazmat suit (hazardous materials suit) is a piece of personal protective equipment that consists of an impermeable whole-body garment worn as protection against hazardous materials. Such suits are often combined with self-contained breathing ...
*
Onesie (jumpsuit)
A onesie () is a type of a loose-fitting casual jumpsuit for adults made of knit cotton (as used in sweatshirts), fleece, or chenille. They are mostly intended as loungewear or sleepwear, but have gained significant popularity as stylish stree ...
*
Prison uniform
A prison uniform is the standardized clothes worn by prisoners. It usually includes visually distinct clothes worn to indicate the wearer is a prisoner, in clear distinction from civil clothing.
A prison uniform serves the purpose to make prison ...
*
Romper suit
A romper suit, usually shortened to romper, is a one-piece or two-piece combination of shorts and a shirt. It is also known as a playsuit. Its generally short sleeves and pant-legs contrast with the long ones of the adult jumpsuit.
History
R ...
*
Speedsuit
A speedsuit is an item of unisex exercise attire or an industrial uniform used when quick clothing changes are necessary. It is either a single piece of clothing which tightly fits the torso and, optionally, varying amounts of the arms and legs ...
References
{{Clothing
One-piece suits
Protective gear
20th-century fashion
21st-century fashion