Bib overalls and suit jackets

[BobHufford]

Breckenridge, Texas, 1920s.

 

[BobHufford]

Nixa, Missouri (prior to 1919).

 

[BobHufford]

Near Bakersfield, California, 1940. Photographer: Dorothea Lange.

 

[Trouser Bark]

Trail, Missouri

View attachment 646395

Noticed that, too. Photo below courtesy of RiteStuffBryan in another thread. Not exactly the same but as close as I can recall having seen. Would've had to do w/ hot coals hopping into his boot tops.

 

[BobHufford]

 

[BobHufford]

SW Missouri — date unknown.

 

[rosesbummin]

There’s definitely something authentic about that combo—it feels like function quietly shaping style rather than the other way around. An old sport coat over bib overalls carries that “nothing wasted” mentality, where garments evolve with the wearer instead of being replaced. The slightly mismatched formality actually works because both pieces have earned their character—faded denim, softened tailoring, maybe a bit of wear at the elbows. It ends up looking intentional without trying to be, which is probably why it feels so “right.”

 

[BobHufford]

A Nebraska farmer in Bonner County, Idaho. 1939 photo by Dorothea Lange.

 

[BobHufford]

“Uncle Ike” (Levi Morrill) of Notch, Missouri. 1920s.

 

[BobHufford]

Farmersville, California. 1939.

 

[Cap_7597]

Southern Railway switch tender Clarence Pace was photographed seventy-six years ago at his post—the daytime shift at Safety Track No. 1 on Saluda Grade in western North Carolina.
Originally built as part of the Asheville & Spartanburg Railroad, the grade opened in 1878 and became part of the Southern Railway in 1895. The line started in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and scaled 1,300 feet of the eastern face of the Blue Ridge on its way to Asheville, North Carolina. The three-mile-long stretch of track at Saluda Grade climbed an average of 4.7 feet per every 100 feet in length. Two safety tracks—put in service in late 1903 and operated 24 hours a day—allowed trains to use gravity to better manage the steep grade.
Pace was a veteran of World War I. The Saluda native was employed by the Southern Railway for 35 years.

 

[Zombie_61]

Southern Railway switch tender Clarence Pace was photographed seventy-six years ago at his post—the daytime shift at Safety Track No. 1 on Saluda Grade in western North Carolina.
Originally built as part of the Asheville & Spartanburg Railroad, the grade opened in 1878 and became part of the Southern Railway in 1895. The line started in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and scaled 1,300 feet of the eastern face of the Blue Ridge on its way to Asheville, North Carolina. The three-mile-long stretch of track at Saluda Grade climbed an average of 4.7 feet per every 100 feet in length. Two safety tracks—put in service in late 1903 and operated 24 hours a day—allowed trains to use gravity to better manage the steep grade.
Pace was a veteran of World War I. The Saluda native was employed by the Southern Railway for 35 years.

Looks to me like ol' Clarence there decided to wear a necktie for the occasion.

 

[Cap_7597]

Looks to me like ol' Clarence there decided to wear a necktie for the occasion.

Believe that might have been dress code for the SR in those days.

 

[Edward]

There’s definitely something authentic about that combo—it feels like function quietly shaping style rather than the other way around. An old sport coat over bib overalls carries that “nothing wasted” mentality, where garments evolve with the wearer instead of being replaced. The slightly mismatched formality actually works because both pieces have earned their character—faded denim, softened tailoring, maybe a bit of wear at the elbows. It ends up looking intentional without trying to be, which is probably why it feels so “right.”

Definitely a lot of that in it. Also of course in the context of the first half of the 20th century when the lounge suit was simply what most men would have worn casually (denim yet to make its move from utilitarian workwear to the fashion world), the gap in perceived relative level of formality between and old sportcoat or suit jacket and workwear overalls was vastly less than would be the case in 2026. (I say this ten minutes after having received an invitation to a work event whereon the implication is that the requested "formal dress" in context means collar and tie, no jeans.)