Rosies founder, Sharon Moore

It was about 7 years ago when Rosies’ founder, Sharon Moore, enrolled in her first welding class.  It was in this class that she got the idea for Rosies Workwear. When she went looking to buy coveralls to wear in class, all she found were ones designed for men. They were big and bulky and not in the least bit feminine. As they say necessity is the mother of invention, so Sharon created Rosies Workwear.  Since then other women welders as well as women mechanics, builders, painters, DIYers, farmers and gardeners have discovered the tough, durable and stylish overalls and coveralls that is Rosies. While we are thrilled to share with so many “can do” women, it’s welding that holds a special place in our heart.

Unfortunately, we are in a small minority. It was mentioned on carmenelectrode.com, a blog for women welders, that according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of women working in the welding industry has actually declined – it is now LOWER than 6%. The news isn’t all doom and gloom. Check out this video we found on Carmen’s website. It’s of a girl’s summer day camp which is called coincidentally, Rosies Girls.  As the blog says, “It’s a place to learn skills (carpentry, welding, etc) that build confidence…This is an awesome way to introduce girls to career options that even today don’t seem accessible to women.” We couldn’t agree more.

From time to time, Rosies features a guest blogger. Below is a post by Nicky Warner. Nicky frequently contributes to blogs, specifically ones about womens workwear.If you would like to contribute to Rosies blog, please let us know.

During the 1940’s, the Second World War revolutionised the role of women in the workplace as former housewives took up positions in munitions factories, exchanging seamed stockings for industrial workwear clothing and replacing their high heels with a sturdy pair of protective boots. The working woman grew to be represented by the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter, the famous lady in protective workwear and a bandanna who proclaims “We Can Do It!”

While some women returned to their old way of life at the end of the war, the era paved the way for those who weren’t afraid to roll up the sleeves of their workwear uniforms and get their hands dirty. Since then, countless women have stepped into mens work boots to continue Rosie’s legacy.

While working in a wartime factory must have been a trying and tiring experience, many women today find fulfilment in  jobs that were first considered to be traditionally male occupations. Real-life Rosies are everywhere; they strut proudly in their workwear trousers and heavy boots, embodying the spirit of that cultural icon who effortlessly combined mascara and red lipstick with denim workwear overalls and toned biceps. Women in workwear scale construction scaffolding, brandish welding tools and emerge from under the bonnets of newly-repaired cars with grease-smeared, smiling faces. Even ladies who prefer a less physical occupation will don workwear overalls to tend to their gardens, paint their homes or tackle DIY renovation projects. All are labors of love.

The reward of hard work and fully throwing yourself into a physically demanding project is undeniable. And of course, every hard-working lady wants to look her best while going about her day. Womens workwear design has come a long way since the 40’s, and ladies in stylish, feminine workwear are a common sight.

What is your labour of love? Are you a welder or mechanic, or do you slip into your workwear clothes to enjoy a day of gardening? Share your story with Rosies and tell us what tasks bring joy to your day!

Believe it or not, July is anti-boredom month. We asked Rosies what they do when there is nothing to do. We think this Rosie said it best:

Darlene Nieman Morris I’m still waiting to find out, if I ever have nothing to do!

Thanks for sharing and we couldn’t agree more. In between traveling, visiting with our fellow Rosies and starting a million projects, we’ve been busy working on some new clothing items and colors to add our line of overalls and coveralls. We think you’re gonna love them. Speaking of love. We’re ramping up for our Labor Day giveaway, we’re calling “Labor of Love”. Tell us what your labor of love is (gardening, horses, welding, working on cars, ranching, etc) and submit a  picture of yourself in action on our Facebook page and have a chance to win our “classic” denim coverall.
It’s perfect for fall clean-up. Not exactly everyone’s labor of love. But you might as well do it in style.

The work Rosies love to do usually takes us outside. While we are by nature sun loving creatures, it’s important to make sure we protect ourselves from the sun’s harmful effects. WebMD reports, “Exposure to the sun causes most of the wrinkles and age spots on our faces and is the number one cause of skin cancer.”

Below are a few tips from WebMD and Rosies on how to protect yourself:

• Apply sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or greater 30 minutes before sun exposure and then every few hours thereafter
• Wear sunglasses with total UV protection
• Wear hats, long sleeved shirts and pants. Pair Rosies overalls with our long sleeve shirt and top it off with our cap and voila, your got yourself covered.

• Avoid direct sun exposure as much as possible during peak UV radiation hours between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
• Eighty percent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is acquired before age 18. As a parent, be a good role model and foster skin cancer prevention habits in your child
• Avoid tanning beds

Rosies are known for their can do attitude. We won’t let a little heat get us down. Attached is a YouTube video of how to make your own air conditioner. Should be fun for us mechanically inclined Rosies. Let us know how it worked for you?

Summer is definitely in full swing. (If you haven’t heard, a heat wave has taken over the east coast.) We took some tips from MedicineNet.com on how to stay cool. Do you have any tips to add? We would love to hear them.

• Alter your pattern of outdoor exercise to take advantage of cooler times (early morning or late evening is great for doing chores). If you can’t change the time of you need to go outside, scale it down by doing fewer minutes, walking instead or running, or decreasing your level of exertion.
• Wear loose-fitting clothing, preferably of a light color.
• Cotton clothing will keep you cooler than many synthetics.

Beat the heat with Rosies zip-off overalls and a cotton T.

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In celebration of National Dairy month, the Rosies team visited Happy Acres Farm, a California state licensed working goat dairy, owned by Stephanie Simonin seen below in our new Rosies raspberry overalls. Happy Acres is a busy and happy place operated by four women with family support. The goat milk is all natural and hormone-free. The milk has a wonderfully high butterfat content essential in producing dairy products such as fresh goat milk, cheese, ice-cream, lotion, and soap.

Like this blog and have a chance to recieve a free bottle of goat milk body lotion.

Here’s a great way to beat the heat. Order our super cool tank and get a Rosies bandana free.

Our 100% cotton tank is perfect underneath our Rosies Coveralls or Overalls.

Dab your brow with polka dot flair with our 22×22 inch square darling.

Crystal Beckvold of Dedham, Massachusettes won our Dirtiest Rosie Contest. Below is the winning entry from Crystal during and after an engine swap. For her efforts, Crystal will receive a brand new pair of  sea green overalls which she says she will put to good use and we believe her.

Taking out an engine is all in a day's fun for Crystal.

Crystal tells us in addition to being our Dirtiest Rosie she was featured  in Street Rodder Magazine May of 2009 and won a scholarship for the “Most Influential Women in Collision Repair” back in 2007. Winning Dirtiest Rosie is just “another badge to add to my resume,” Cyrstal said. To see the other Dirtiest Rosie submissions click here. Thanks to everyone who entered. Keep up the dirty work!!

With Memorial Day just around the corner, what better way to celebrate than by planting a Victory Garden. LaManda Joy, gardener, lecturer and active Rosie sent us a bunch of really interesting information about Victory Gardens. ” My mother was a Rosie the Riveter and welded bomber doors. So I‚have always been impressed with how people can band together for a collective purpose.” she said in a recent interview, “I believe we are experiencing an interest in gardening in this country of a level that hasn’t been seen since WWII. There were nearly eight million new gardens in 2009 with many gardeners reporting they plan to increase the size of their plots this growing season.” Don’t have a green thumb? Don’t worry. As LaManda shared with us, “90% of all the original Victory Gardeners had never garden before.” For inspiration, visit LaManda’s blog. If you live in the Chicago area, you should visit the Peterson Garden. The site was part of an original WW2 Victory Garden from 1942-1945, served as a blueprint for Victory Gardens nationwide and is one of LaManda’s pet projects.