I'm Starting an Overall Company
And I think I’m going to tell you how it happens
Until now, I’ve meant to use this space for poetry and creative writing. But I’m starting something new that’s consuming most of my time, and it feels personal enough to belong here too. So, I’ll just start at the beginning and share it as I experience it.
I’ve had a pair of overalls since 1991.
My mom bought them for me from a little boutique in Louisiana a few days before she sent me back to Texas for my sophomore year at Baylor. I was so proud of those overalls.
They were the softest cotton twill, 90s-baggy-style, indigo blue and covered with water buffalo. Hand block-printed in India (something I didn’t appreciate at the time).
This is me wearing them in 1997 with my now 30-year-old son.
I’ve worn those overalls for decades now. We’ve seen a lot of life together. They’re broken in, in a way only time can do. They’re comfortable, they feel like me, and they never fail to get attention.
At the end of last summer, after hearing one too many people ask me where I bought them, Mark looked at me and said, “Let’s make these overalls!”
I laughed, but he was serious. And we kept circling back to it until it found our way onto our Big Hairy @ss Goals for 2026.
We started talking about what made those overalls so special. It wasn’t just the fit or fabric; it was how I felt when I wore them. Expressive, comfortable, and entirely myself.
Mark has spent years learning how to build products people love. As Co-founder and CEO of Swiftwick (socks), he’s seen firsthand how materials, craftsmanship, and manufacturing decisions shape the things we wear every day. Me, on the other hand – I’ve always been drawn to how things feel, the texture, as well as the emotional side of what I wear, and (as I’ve grown more and more comfortable in my own skin) how I can express myself beyond basic blacks, whites and neutrals.
Somewhere in that overlap, Happy Overall started to take shape.
Now we’re on an adventure to create the kind of garment that becomes a treasure—something expressive, comfortable, beautifully made, and worthy of decades of living.
This was taken within minutes of Mark suggesting that we start an overall company. I was testing a lounger at a garage sale. He was apparently already gathering brand content.
