History and practice

Origins of dungarees 

The word dungarees comes from the Hindi word 'dungri', the name of a village in India that produced the fabric used to make working clothes. In the 17th century when the English bought the fabric used in India they gave the word dungri an English twist, turning it into the word dungarees. This fabric was used to make trousers, and was only used to make overalls in 1853 after being designed by Levi Strauss. they were ideal for labour intensive jobs and quickly became popular among working class men.

Lucy and Yak dungarees

Lucy and Yak is a small clothing company based in the south of England, and all of their clothes are handmade in India. Their goals are to make high end, good quality clothing, while ensuring that all their workers are paid a living wage and are in a safe working environment. They are also very invested in ensuring they are as environmentally friendly as they possibly can be, for example they are trying to make their dungarees out of recycled plastic bottles. This brand is a lot more ethical than most clothing brands, that just focus on abusing their power for cheap labour and more profit, and ultimately end up with poor quality products. The dungarees up above are corduroy and are made from a 100% cotton, and described a bottleneck blue. the straps are tied in knots at the front of the  dungarees which allows the wearer to adjust them to the right size, and gives them a unique look which is something that I have personally only seen from this company. These dungarees are both comfortable and practical, they allow for a lot of movement which was the original reason for their conception. Dungarees originally would have been associated with the working class man, as they were a good choice for men working practical and demanding jobs. However, dungarees today are generally worn due to their comfort, and are generally associated with creative people such as painters and creatives in general, especially when they are brightly coloured.