How Far Can We Push It With Overalls?

Meet me at the intersection of teenage awkwardness and "adorkable"

Ages and ages ago, circa 2012, I was an editor at Glamour. I had a very “woohoo! look at me!” sense of style, and I loved what I thought of then as an “unexpected pairing”. Sneakers with sequins, for example. Neons and neutrals. Overalls and….insane shoes. I fucking loved overalls and jumpsuits. I largely defined my style at the time by my proclivities to onesies that were pants. I wrote an article for Glamour.com about how to wear overalls and the commenters were horrified. And then all of a sudden, overalls and jumpsuits were everywhere and became totally acceptable and so widely embraced they became passe. But I find the specific brand of passe interesting. They became associated with a certain stereotype of Girls-era girl that was “spunky” and “offbeat”. The association was with a girl who would say, I’m not like the other girls - I’m different” with a shrug and a wholesome aw-shucks undertone. It reminded me of when I cut my hair boy-short and suddenly people started describing me as “quirky”. It was such an annoying cliche, I stopped wearing overalls and jumpsuits for the most part. I still like them, I just don’t really want to get those comments about them, so I don’t wear them. But I still like them! I especially like this pair from Still Here - they’re white, crisp, and they have more shape than most of the vintage ones I was wearing in the early 2010’s.

Initially I had a hard time imagining how I’d wear them now without feeling cringey or juvenile, but I think I figured it out… here’s what I did with them and why I think it works. Or doesn’t.