Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear long favored by men in North America until recent times. Traditionally made of red flannel with long arms and long legs, it buttoned up the front and had a button-up rear access hatch. It was not uncommon up until the mid-1900s for rural men to wear the same union suit continuously all week, or even all winter; normally, no other type of underwear was worn with it.
It was not uncommon up until the mid-1900s for rural men to wear the same union suit continuously all week, or even all winter.
Normally, no other type of underwear was worn with it. One of the major events of the spring was the time when the union suits were removed, washed, and put away for the summer.
Today, most people -- both men and women --favor two-piece long underwear, also known as "long johns".
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/union_suit). 11/13/04 |
The union suit was cold-climate engineering in flannel. A single garment covering torso, arms and legs left no gap at the waist where cold air could enter — the weak point of every two-piece outfit — and the front buttons plus rear access hatch solved the practical problems of dressing and the privy without undressing in a cold room. In a house heated by one stove, worn under work clothes for a full week of farm or logging labour, it was less a fashion choice than part of the heating system.
The red flannel version became the visual shorthand for the garment: warm, hard-wearing and cheerful in colour. Its reputation for being worn continuously all winter is really a comment on laundry — heating the water and washing a heavy flannel suit by hand was a major task, so the spring day when the union suits finally came off, were washed and put away became a small seasonal ceremony.
Central heating, indoor plumbing and the washing machine removed the conditions that made the union suit necessary. Two-piece long johns wash and dry faster, let the wearer size top and bottom separately, allow just the top to be worn on a milder day, and are far easier for children and older wearers to manage. The union suit survives as a novelty, a costume reference and in modern one-piece base layers for extreme cold — but its working life as everyday North American underwear ended with the world that required it.
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear with long arms and long legs. It was long favoured by men in North America, traditionally made of red flannel, buttoning up the front with a button-up rear access hatch.
Most people today — both men and women — favour two-piece long underwear, also known as long johns. The two-piece form is easier to wash, size and adjust than the one-piece suit.
Normally no other underwear was worn with it, and up until the mid-1900s it was not uncommon for rural men to wear the same union suit continuously all week, or even all winter, with the spring removal and washing of the suits a major seasonal event.