The History of The Overshirt

The popularity of the Overshirt continues. Yes, it's cold outside but the overshirt is something more than just keeping warm. It's more than a shirt and more casual to wear than a jacket.

The overshirt was once a working class garment worn by French railway workers and engineers. The practical overshirts were traditionally made from hard-working fabrics like Cotton drill or Moleskin, long lasting and easy to move around in during long days of hard manual labour. Workers started to adapt their denim overalls. The shape and design of the workpiece hasn’t changed much from the 1800s. Traditionally the overshirt had bellowed breast pockets with flaps and large lower patch pockets; the practical pockets were perfect for their work tools.

It was the iconic stylish actor Paul Newman who made the overshirt popular. He wore a traditional blue denim overshirt in the 1967 film ‘Cool’. It was known as the ‘Chore’ jacket.