A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Created in Utica, New York, United States, it originated as women's wear during the 19th-century United States clothing reform efforts, as an alternative to constricting garments, and soon gained popularity among men as well. The first union suit was patented in 1868 as "emancipation union under flannel". [1]
Traditionally made of red flannel with long arms and long legs, it buttoned up the front and had a button-up flap in the rear covering the buttocks (colloquially known as the "access hatch", "drop seat", "fireman's flap", "crap flap", and other names). Depending on the size, some union suits can have a dozen buttons on the front to be fastened through buttonholes from the neck down to the groin area.
In Britain, this garment has often been known as "combinations". When made from the traditional wool as recommended by Gustav Jäger, these are "woolly combinations"—sometimes abbreviated to "woolly coms". In the Western US, they are known as "long handles" or "long johns".
Union suits are still commercially available, and come in both summer weight (white) and thermal-wear winter weight (red), but because of their long association with "old fashioned" usage, and presumed "unsophisticated" rural wearers, they may also considered somewhat comical. The rear flap is particularly associated with humor, and in film and television the appearance of a red union suit, viewed from behind, is a form of mild toilet humor.
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The union suit makes an appearance in Louisa May Alcott's 1875 book Eight Cousins , as a preferred alternative to corsetry under the name 'Liberty Suit'
In Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon, private-eye Sam Spade "put(s) on a thin white union-suit".
Union suits are referred to several times in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books (1932-1971) about her family's pioneer life during the late 19th century in the United States.
The union suit is mentioned in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill A Mockingbird , which is set in the rural American South in the years 1933–35.
Buddy Ebsen wore a red union suit in the 1964 comedy Western film Mail Order Bride.
Dave Lister, a character from the British sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf , which aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, can be seen wearing a union suit at various points throughout the series.
The union suit appears in the 2003 film Cold Mountain , which is set during the American Civil War ((1861–1865)).
In the HBO series Deadwood (2004–2006), which won an Emmy for costume design, and the sequel film Deadwood: The Movie (2019), the character of Al Swearengen (played by Ian McShane) is frequently seen in a union suit. He wears only the union suit in private, and when getting dressed in the morning, dons a matching three-piece suit over it. Although the union suit is visible even with the vest, this appears to be adequate for daily wear. For more formal occasions, the character added a dress shirt over the union suit, and a cravat or bow tie.
In the 2010 expansion Undead Nightmare for the19th century Western-themed game Red Dead Redemption , the player begins play wearing a union suit and can continue to wear it throughout the game, if desired. The outfit is available in the prequel Red Dead Redemption 2 .
In the opening to the second season of the Apple TV+ series Severance in 2025, the character of Mark Scout wears a red union suit. In the first season opening, in 2022, he wore red two-piece pajamas, echoing the procedure that severed his "innie" life as an office worker from his "outie" waking life. The series' wintry landscapes and backstory about a 19th century man named Keir Eagan are appropriate to 19th century red thermal union suit, which echoes Mark's increasing desire to reintegrate or unify his severed personality.
Union suits, especially the rear flap, are used for comedic effect in 'Back to the Future Part III (1990), in the 1999 movie adaptation of The Wild Wild West , in 'the TV series Rugrats (1991-2021), and in the Family Guy episode "No Meals on Wheels" which originally aired in 2007.
Pajamas are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging. Pajamas are soft garments derived from the South-Asian Muslim bottom-wear, the pyjamas, which were adopted in the Western world as nightwear.
A belt is a flexible band or strap, typically made of leather, plastic, or heavy cloth, worn around the natural waist or near it. The ends of a belt are free; and a buckle forms the belt into a loop by securing one end to another part of the belt, at or near the other end. Often, the resulting loop is smaller than the hips. Belts come in many lengths because of the variety in waist sizes, and most belts can be adjusted at the buckle to suit the wearer's waist.
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body.
A waistcoat or vest is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. It is also sported as the third piece in the traditional three-piece male suit. Any given waistcoat can be simple or ornate, or for leisure or luxury. Historically, the waistcoat can be worn either in the place of, or underneath, a larger coat, dependent upon the weather, wearer, and setting.
A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of trousers. It is currently considered semi-formal wear or business wear in contemporary Western dress codes, however when the suit was originally developed it was considered an informal or more casual option compared to the prevailing clothing standards of aristocrats and businessmen. The lounge suit originated in 19th-century Britain as sportswear and British country clothing, which is why it was seen as more casual than citywear at that time, with the roots of the suit coming from early modern Western Europe formal court or military clothes. After replacing the black frock coat in the early 20th century as regular daywear, a sober one-coloured suit became known as a lounge suit.
Long underwear, also called long johns or thermal underwear, is underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It is commonly worn by people under their clothes in colder climates.
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 used by parachutists.
Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts. Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as glass, stone, leather, metal, precious metal or combinations of these. Securing of the cufflinks is usually achieved via toggles or reverses based on the design of the front section, which can be folded into position. There are also variants with chains or a rigid, bent rear section. The front sections of the cufflinks can be decorated with gemstones, inlays, inset material or enamel and designed in two or three-dimensional forms.
A frock coat is a formal men's coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back and some features unusual in post-Victorian dress. These include the reverse collar and lapels, where the outer edge of the lapel is often cut from a separate piece of cloth from the main body and also a high degree of waist suppression around the waistcoat, where the coat's diameter round the waist is less than round the chest. This is achieved by a high horizontal waist seam with side bodies, which are extra panels of fabric above the waist used to pull in the naturally cylindrical drape. As was usual with all coats in the 19th century, shoulder padding was rare or minimal.
The blanket sleeper is a type of especially warm sleeper or footie pajama worn primarily during the winter in the United States and Canada. The garment is worn especially by young children.
Western wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th century Wild West. It ranges from accurate historical reproductions of American frontier clothing, to the stylized garments popularized by Western film and television or singing cowboys such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. It continues to be a fashion choice in the West and Southwestern United States, as well as people associated with country music or Western lifestyles, for example the various Western or Regional Mexican music styles. Western wear typically incorporates one or more of the following: Western shirts with pearl snap fasteners and vaquero design accents, blue jeans, cowboy hat, a leather belt, and cowboy boots.
A teddy, also called a camiknicker, is a garment which covers the torso and crotch in the one garment. It is a similar style of garment to a one-piece swimsuit or bodysuit, but is typically looser and sheerer. The garment is put on by stepping into the leg holes and pulling the garment up to cover the torso. It may cover the whole of the torso or partially and may also cover the arms. They may open at the crotch so that the wearer may use the bathroom without taking it completely off. As an undergarment, it combines the functions of a camisole and panties, and may be preferred to avoid a visible panty line. It is also found as lingerie.
A dress shirt, button shirt, button-front, button-front shirt, or button-up shirt is a garment with a collar and a full-length opening at the front, which is fastened using buttons or shirt studs. A button-down or button-down shirt is a dress shirt with a button-down collar – a collar having the ends fastened to the shirt with buttons.
A lapel is a folded flap of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat below the collar. It is most commonly found on formal clothing and suit jackets. Usually it is formed by folding over the front edge of the jacket or coat and sewing it to the collar, an extra piece of fabric around the back of the neck.
The liberty bodice, like the emancipation bodice or North American emancipation waist, was an undergarment for women and girls invented towards the end of the 19th century, as an alternative to a corset.
Áo bà ba is a traditional southern Vietnamese garment. The top part that covers the torso is called the áo. It is mostly associated with rural southern Vietnam, especially in the Mekong Delta. Often worn as a top and bottom set, the áo bà ba is typically a long-sleeved, button-down silk shirt with a scooped neck, paired with silk pants. The shirt is long and split at the waist sides, forming two flaps, customarily features two pockets.
A back closure is a means for fastening a garment at the rear, such as with a zipper, hooks-and-eyes or buttons. Back closures were once common on Western female clothing, but have recently become less so, especially on female casual and business attire. They continue, however, to be widely used in underwear, formal wear and specialized clothing. Back closures are also common in garments for infants and toddlers.
Rayadillo is a blue-and-white striped cotton or flannel material that was used to make the military uniforms worn by Spanish colonial soldiers from the later 19th century until the early 20th century. It was commonly worn by soldiers posted in overseas Spanish tropical colonies, Spanish Morocco and Spanish Guinea, before being adopted as a summer uniform by units stationed in Spain itself.
Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear, and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal.
A man's suit of clothes, in the sense of a lounge, office, business, dinner or dress suit, is a set of garments which are crafted from the same cloth. This article discusses the history of the lounge suit, often called a business suit when featuring dark colors and a conservative cut.
