HALLOWEEN (1978) COVERALLS MATCH

Michael-Myers.net General Discussion
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I ordered the “Frosted Nickel” which is basically silver. The brass came with a brass backing piece, and that piece always does look silver in pictures I’ve seen. You really never see much, if any, of the actual donut hole button.

It would be interesting to see what the 70’s Tradewears came with- if they were all silver or brass or if they had small differences like it seems Sears was famous for during those years! I’ve seen so many variations that I think the Sears factories just kind of swapped labels, pockets, etc. as inventory and marketing changed

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There are photos of the button in this very thread. Check pages 9 and 16.

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I agree, there probably was definite variations as far as the collar button goes. I think either the nickel or the brass is probably gonna be accurate either way. I’ve looked at so many pictures, and it really is hard to tell if it is one or the other. Im working on my roebucks ones right now and i just ordered some of the brass ones from etsy, the ones alot of people on here have a link for wich do look really good by the way!

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I bought some brass and nickel (silver) ones on etsy and they’re almost an exact match, laurel wreath with single star, even use the 2 prong tack/pin on the back. It is easy to mangle and ruin the back tack when installing though, takes some ingenuity to get them installed unless you have a specific button/rivet press.

And I’ve seen real Tradewears online with both a gold and silver colored button, so I bet both were used.

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I actually just got my buttons yesterday and i did ruin the first one but i figured outbwhat i did wrong and its all good now. You are right though, it takes some finagiling if you dont have the proper tools.

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(Late to the party but…) So, the H1 coveralls were really Sears Work n Leisure? They do look more accurate than the Tradeware. Both still VERY hard to find. But… if the dude that found the Tradewares in the 1st place says they were really “Work n Leisure”, why do so many people still think it’s Tradeware? Aside from the people who found Tradewares and want to sell them for $700. I understand why they’re doing it. They probably spent years looking for the right Tradeware (when they really needed Work N Leisure) and then realized they DON’T have a $700 set of coveralls.

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Tradewear and work and leisure were released simultaneously for years. Quality control was very much lacking. I’ve seen work and leisure that have the Tradewear details but are branded work n leisure tag.

The h1 suit is definitely a Tradewear as that is the most common found suit with all the correct details. The work and leisure tagged ones are likely a factory error

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I both agree and disagree but my 2 cents is… I have them all and I agree with the guy who found the Tradewares in the first place. The Work n Leisure are noticeably closer. As for the color, Castle said they were charcoal/grey and that would explain why they look blue at times (as charcoal has blue in it)… that and a ton of blue lighting. It seems very obvious looking at the film/bts shots and it seems people are overthinking this. Not knocking your work either because you make amazing stuff, but you have a vested interest in them being “tex-green” Tradewares as you sell both Trades and replica Trades in “tex-green”. If I had WnLs for sale AND made replicas of them, you bet I’d be telling people all the reasons they’re WnLs. And I only feel comfortable saying this to you here (as my 2 cents won’t interfere with your art/business nor was that my intention).

But, we’re splitting hairs at this point as we’ll never know for sure. These are all educated guesses at best, made by people spending FAR too much time obsessing over finding the “exact” matching coveralls, myself included. But, there is a large amount of overlap in these as they’re all made by Sears, Roebuck and Co.

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I get what youre saying for sure. From my count theres been roughly 10-15 screen accurate tradewears surface since 2016 but maybe 2-3 work and leisures that have the same nuances but are tagged black label work and leisure.

Per the actual catalogs, they didnt start offering the thinner material work and leisures until the late 70s. But the hero 78 suit is an early 70s tradewear. The same factories also made both suits and both had identical shape/color tags. My assumption is they didnt have quality control and some tradewears were branded work and leisure and vice versa until tradewear tags were discontinued around 1980

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I’ve spent the last year searching for (and buying) various Sears coveralls and at the end of it all, all I can say is they are SO inconsistent…

I’ve seen Tradewears and Work n Leisure with both the round or square pockets, hammer loops (yes, a guy on Reddit had Tradewears with a hammer loop: https://www.reddit.com/r/Halloweenmovies/comments/141zgnu/heres_my_vintage_pairs_of_screen_accurate/), Roebucks with a square pocket, the Sears red tag “Coveralls” with the square pocket… the list goes on.

No matter what the specific line of Sears is (or brand), having the right details is more important- mostly the button collar, square pockets, and the lower middle snap that is below the pocket tops (it moved higher on Roebucks).

As for the colors, did black tag Work N Leisures come in Tex-green or charcoal? In the '81 Sears catalog it’s called dark green, not spruce green. The spruce green blue tag Work n Leisures I have are a noticeably lighter green than all the pictures I’ve seen of the screen used H2 coveralls.

My closest pairs so far are dark green Roebucks for H2- they look better than the green blue tag Work n Leisures which makes me think the black tag Work n Leisures was a darker green (although Roebucks have a higher front chest snap and double stitching). I also have navy Roebucks and navy blue tag Work n Leisures because they look more navy blue on screen in H2 than H1!

As for H1, I have a navy pair of Tradewears but with the snap button and rounded pockets, but I couldn’t pass them up. I also have a pair of NOS Sears Perma Prests with round pockets, snap collar, rear middle seam, and in a dark grey/green color that I think must be Tex, but it could also just be that the “greens” varied year to year. Either way, that green looks really close to the schoolyard scene

I spent more time that I would like to admit going through the catalogs at https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ and never do they show a tag (black, blue, or otherwise) nor specifically call out “Work n Leisure” or “Tradewear” as far as I could find. Unless I’m not looking at the right catalogs.

I think it’s actually fun to find the differences and go on the hunt. No matter which ones I use, they’re way better than my first pair of blue Dickies with the zipper chest pockets!

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Very good points indeed. And inconsistent would be an understatement. I’ve also found the “type” to be less important. My Tradewares and my WnLs aren’t even my favorites, or the closest I have. My charcoal, tall, regular Sears from 82ish are my “hero” set lol. They’re almost perfect. And I can’t lie, the “hunt” for the perfect coveralls is incredibly fun. But, it also depends on how they fit YOU (or the person who’s going to be wearing them).

However, I think you hit on one of the most important parts. The super low collar. That’s all the difference for me. For H1, you gotta have that 70s/early 80s obnoxiously deep, boogie-nights type, show off your chest hair or some weird 70s stuff type collar. And most of them, Trades, WnLs, Regular Sears and the Roebucks all have the higher collar snap. The button is less important for me.

But, the color is charcoal. We have better images, higher definition, better color restoration… it’s charcoal. It’s not even close. Sadly, I bought way too many in that weird “tex green” or whatever the color is. C’est la vie. But, the color was ALSO incredibly inconsistent.

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Great points! The fit is super important, and again, it varies quite a bit. Regular Roebucks give a perfect Warlock highwater look, and the talls are great for H1 (I’m 5’11"). But the talls in other Sears, Big Mac, and Red Kap are way too long, like 4" too long.

The color is always difficult to choose and controversial. I definitely see a dark green, maybe Tex, but definitely a green in the H1 schoolyard scene and when he gets in the station wagon. But that depends on the picture too! In the attached pic, it’s the same shot but they look green or charcoal depending on which one you look at. But after that specific scene, it’s navy blue for the rest of the film no matter which TV I watch it on.

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The charcoal coveralls I have do kind of look green or blue depending on the lighting. The snap I’m referring to is correct for H1 on most Sears, but Roebucks has the higher snap, and yes, it’s that “70’s boogie woogie chest hair” low snap haha

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And then we get to H2, where we know for sure the onset pair were green, but I never see anything but a very dark navy blue during the film, even darker than H1.

I’m gone back and forth and around with the color and I do have all 3 common colors (navy, green, charcoal) and an olive color but sometimes I’m tempted to just go with navy blue as I’m trying to look like Michael Myers as he looks on the movie screen, not Nick Castle behind the scenes on set. Heck, I even picked up a vintage pair of dark denim Big Yank coveralls and put them on a bust, they look pretty good and give Myers a “rugged” look :sweat_smile:

I make life sizes and busts with my coveralls (I only need so many to wear!) and I’ve used different colors and they all look good, and if anyone says “they’re the wrong color” it will just start the rabbit-hole conversation!

And you’re right about the button not being a huge issue- you can pretty never see the button unless you button it up. I’ve swapped to button/buttonhole before and while the buttonhole does look good, the backside of the button looks the same as the backside of the snap I painstakingly removed

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We’re definitely on the same page here! What looks right/good is more important that the tags. However, I find that Sears and/or Roebuck are the way to go. I have a few sets of Big Macs amd you dont notice how “off” they are until they’re nex to some Sears.

For H1, I like the charcoal Sears, tall. They look great in any light and as soon as it’s dark, you have that classic blue. So it’s a bit of a conundrum. I have a bunch of different sets but I can’t do the “whichever- green” out. Just looks weird in the light. And yes, I don’t want to look like Castle, in a BTS shot of him, taking a dump or something. Most of the H1 film they look navy blue. The charcoal captures both looks for me and they definitely have the H1 fit.

For H2… navy blue Roebucks ALL DAY. They have the tighter fit and a higher collar snap that gives you that Warlock look… and they were so dark in the film they looked black. I should try that. I have weird green Roebucks but they’re not quite right. I have a set of Red Kaps for a Friday part 5 that are actually the PERFECT color for H2 (but I cant find that color in any Sears). However, I don’t quite love the “floods”. At a distance they make you look short imho. We’re pretty much the same height (you’re 5’11 and I’m 6ft flat) but the long just looks better for our height. Especially because my boot-game is lacking. I like the nam jungle boots for both. But, we’re the perfect height dude. Michael Myers is NOT 8ft tall. Dude was 5’10 and completly unassuming, average looking in every way.

But… I think, in my opinion, the BIG decision is the color, especially if someone cosplays. It really comes down to “screen matching” navy blue or “screen accurate” charcoal/tex-green. Only people like us here would even think about all the different colors (cause to the rest of the folks out there, Myers wears a white mask and dark blue coveralls). In my experience, the charcoal doesn’t throw people off but the green definitely does.

Good comparison with the pics too. The color can definitely vary wildly depending on the print. It seems older prints look greenish, newer prints look charcoal… but they ALL look navy blue in the night scenes lol.

But for H1, I gotta have that low collar baby… said like Christopher Walken asking for more cowbell

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Haha great points! More cowbell always solves what ails me!
I too have way too many coveralls- Sears of various tags, Roebucks (which are also my favorites for H2), Big Mac, and another brand to look out for is “Berco”- they were actually the larger company that made all the Sears coveralls as well as their own brand(same RN production co number). I have some and they even have the same size tag and details.

I’ve found that heavily weathering both green and charcoals make them look better, navy doesn’t show weathering very much.

Unless I ever find a pair of Tradewears or Work n Leisure black tags with all the right details, I think my coverall collection is complete- I have enough to wear as costumes as well as build lifesizes or busts out of.

Actually the last pairs I really want are some navy blue Roebucks in size 42R to wear- I have Sears tag ones, but the blue is not as dark as Roebucks (the Roebucks green is a darker green as well, more than the earlier Sears). As you’ve found, the regular Roebucks just seem to have that H2 fit better than others. I have both Vibram sole green jungles and some loggers that are close, so I don’t mind the boots showing. I have a pair of navy Roebucks in 44R, but they’re a tad too loose for that H2 look but the color is perfect and they look great when you add some perma blood and holes!

I also want to get some navy Red Kaps that I’ll modify and build an H1 style life size out of (Red Kaps have those squared pockets, which most Sears are missing, but Big Mac DOES have the right square pocket but you have to square off the pocket flap to be more accurate)

I already built a life size with green and charcoal but I just love the navy blue look in person no matter what the actual color was- and as you said, it’s especially odd in H2 where we KNOW the screen-used pair was a dark green but nowhere in the movie do they look anything but dark, dark blue or even black!

It’s fun to discuss these kinds of things here and I do enjoy the hunt and the variety- I even like my olive/olivewood Big Macs! But every single person “on the street” will say he wore blue coveralls because that’s what they looked like nearly all the time in the movie.