Student Overall

Student Overall

Particular boilersuits or "student overalls" are widely used for specific events at universities and polytechnics in Sweden and Finland. Typically, the overalls are procured by the student associations of faculties or programmes. At the major Swedish universities (like Lund or Uppsala) the use of overalls is limited to engineering students, but their use has spread to students in other fields at some of the smaller university colleges. In Finland, overalls have been foremost identified with engineering students, but see extensive use in all of the student organizations of Finnish institutions of higher learning, such as University of Helsinki and Aalto University.

These overalls are not only seen in Europe. At McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, the McMaster Engineering faculty has had a group of representatives clad in red coveralls known as "redsuits" for decades. At University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering has a distinct group of student who wear overalls to demonstrate their school spirit. Numerous people throughout the city and campus recognize students in these coveralls as U of T engineers and members of Skule (TM). The University of Waterloo Engineering Students in Waterloo, Ontario, are also identified by their navy blue or grey coveralls, often decorated with significant patches from various interests and activities the student has accomplished over their time at school. Likewise, Ottawa, Ontario's Carleton University has representatives in dark blue Air Force style coveralls, aptly named the "flightsuits".

Student overalls have become one of the most conspicuous academic traditions at some educational institutions, despite its short history. The use of overalls started in the Royal Institute of Technology in the late 1970s, and spread quickly around Sweden and Finland. Apparently protective clothing was needed in excursions to companies, which soon led to use at parties as a way to identify students of different fields and organizations. The height of the use of the overall was reached in the late 1990s. Due to quick rise in popularity, most student organizations now offer the students a chance to purchase their own overalls during the freshman year. Since the 1990s, the custom has remained popular although perhaps in slight decline as the overalls are sometimes viewed to signal a lifestyle bordering on alcoholism and drunken misbehavior, up to the point where some pubs and clubs even choose to ban the use of overall uniforms.