The one-piece is making a comeback.

Sir Winston Churchill is generally best remembered for his way with words and, maybe second to that, his way with clothes. A man of means and as a prominent statesman, he would’ve been expected to be well turned out, but even amid his parliamentary peers, he cut a dash. “He wasn’t a dandy in the classic sense, but there was certainly an artistry in the way he conducted himself, from his dress to his accessories,” Mr Barry Singer, author of the book Churchill Style told MR PORTER back in 2015. So it is perhaps no surprise to learn that, more than half a century after his death, the present-day spring collections still sit in Sir Winston’s imposing sartorial shadow. However, what might be more of a revelation is the particular item, plucked from the SS19 clothes racks, that we have in mind: the boilersuit.

The boilersuit is perhaps the workwear OG. It has its origins in the factories and railways of the Victorian steam age. The expansion of the British Empire was literally powered by coal-fired boilers, which required regular cleaning and maintenance, as well as feeding. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. And those that did wore a particular item of clothing, a protective long-sleeved one-piece garment that became known as the boilersuit.

As new industries sprung up and expanded, many turned to the boilersuit as the uniform of its workforce, and many names came along with the new roles it fulfilled. Coveralls was a term that stuck in North America, whereas the overall was favoured in the UK and elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Not only popular with factory workers, it was adopted by mechanics, drivers and pilots, as well as, notably, bricklayers, which is where Sir Winston is said to have encountered them.

During WWII, Sir Winston was taken by the ease of use and movement that the boilersuit offered bricklayers. So much so, in fact, that he took the idea to his shirtmaker, Turnbull & Asser, who fashioned him a series of overalls in numerous colours and materials, including pinstripe, blue serge and green velvet. This became Sir Winston’s “siren suit”, and his trademark outfit at the time, although the then British prime minister referred to it as his “romper suit”.

While today a romper is something you’re more likely to wrestle with a toddler over, and the overall is the sort of thing you’d see worn in a garage, the boilersuit has increasingly gained traction, and in a market you’d perhaps not expect: womenswear. Last year, major fashion houses were all over the overall. It was only a matter of time before the world of menswear took note.

This particular American-made example by Engineered Garments is fabricated from lightweight, breathable tropical wool, with a drawstring fastening to adjust the fit. In keeping with its industrial heritage, it is comfortable to wear and easy to team with the other remnants of labourers’ clothing that have found their way into your wardrobe, namely T-shirts and boots. What is perhaps most notable about it is that, for something that seems to stand out within the context of the modern man’s attire, it just works. But, given the legacy behind it, there’s a good reason for that.