An infant bodysuit or onesie (American English) is a garment designed to be worn by babies much like a

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

; they are distinguished from T-shirts by an extension below the waist, with

snaps Snaps ( ) is a Danish and Swedish word for a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. A ritual that is associated with drinking snaps is a tradition in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark and Sweden, where ...

that allow it to be closed over the

crotch In humans, the crotch is the bottom of the pelvis (the region of the body where the legs join the torso) and is often considered to include the groin and genitals. Etymology ''Crotch'' is derived from ''crutch''; it "was first used in 1539 to ...

. The purpose of the opening at the crotch is to facilitate access to the infant's

diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate Defecation (or defaecation) follows dig ...

as well as preventing the garment from riding up the infant's body and exposing skin. Like T-shirts, infant bodysuits come in a wide variety of designs and may be worn as undergarments or as outer shirts.

Synonyms

Other names of this outfit include ''onesies'' (a

registered trademark The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or wor ...

often used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as if it were

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

), ''creepers'', ''diaper shirts'', or ''snapsuits''. If the bodysuit is sleeveless, it may also be referred to as a ''vest'' (British English only).

Types and design

An infant bodysuit may be sleeveless, have long sleeves, or have short sleeves. A common feature of the bodysuit is the lap neck (figures 1 and 2). This design makes it easier to get the head through the neck of the bodysuit, as babies have large heads proportional to their bodies, and additionally have poor head control, making traditional neck openings less suitable. Bodysuits without the lap neck may have snaps at the neck instead (figure 3). File:Romper.tif, Figure 1. Sleeveless bodysuit with lap neck. File:Onesie.png, Figure 2. Short sleeve bodysuit with lap neck File:Dfsd.jpg, Figure 3. Long sleeve bodysuit with snap neck.

References

{{reflist Infants' clothing One-piece suits History of fashion Children's underwear

Synonyms

Types and design

See also

References