Suggested reading: An explanation of the 1983 series of outfits that the overalls belong to. Jump to: 1983 Series – The 1st CPK Clothes
Original Name: Country Cousin
Description:
Corduroy overalls with a ruffle running along the strap and a white blouse underneath. The neck and sleeves of the blouse have coloured rickrack trim. It came with sneakers and socks.
This outfit was sold from 1983 until 1985, most likely longer. It was sold both on kids and packaged, starting in 1984. There is evidence that some stock of this outfit was still being sold off as separately packaged outfits as late as 1987. (Ref#4, Iss. 5, p.4)
Version Information
My goal is to find every version of every outfit that was produced. Below is a record of each version of this outfit that I have, up to the date indicated. To understand clothing codes, factories and variations, please refer to the suggested readings below.
Suggested readings: 1st Blog – Why do this project?, What are Clothing Tag Codes, 1983 Series – The 1st CPK Clothes
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. you have a 12B KT that is green, not pink) I would appreciate hearing from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details on the pictures required, jump to Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
This outfit does not appear to have been made by the primary factories CC or SS.
Variations
> The following are observable differences between outfits produced at various factories.
- fabric colour/shade
- fabric type (various textures)
- location of silk CPK label on the bib
> Mimic outfits: Outfit #626, the Velveteen Overalls, came out in 1986ish and is a pair of velveteen overalls with a patterned cotton blouse. There are two versions. Outfit #147 is a Transitional outfit that I believe only came packaged. The Play Along 25th Anniversary version comes only in dark blue. The 30th Anniversary version is purple.
> There were many variations made by foreign factories in a wonderful array of colours. For information on identifying a Jesmar version, jump to Identifying Jesmar Clothing.
There are Tri-ang Pedigree and Tsukuda versions of the Coleco flower-patterned overalls (12H). All three versions are very sought after, the foreign more than the Coleco.
Other Information
> The straps of the overalls are generally the same colour as the rest, but we have found some which are white cotton, and in at least one case, navy blue corduroy. There is currently no pattern that can provide a reasonable explanation for this.
> A few outfits (a very rare occurrence) have been found with circular snaps used at the legs and to secure the straps. Both recorded examples are from Hong Kong Kids, one KT and one P factory. (Facebook Conversation, Mar 2022) It has been confirmed that if these are only Hong Kong outfits, they moved on to buttons and velcro even before the HK outfits stopped being produced. Thank you to Melissa Kegley (Email, July 2022) for pictures of her HK flowered overalls with buttons and velcro.
> The silk tags on the bib of the OK overalls are always located right along the seam. Other factories have it up, away from the seam.
> Jump to Unique Accents: PMI for information on the rick rack around the sleeves.
I have burgundy overalls, a very soft corduroy, no tag, velcro on the inner leg seam. Would they be jesmar or triang?
They may be. However, they sound more Taiwanese to me. Likely AX or HP. The overalls don’t hold the tag, the shirt does. I don’t know about TP overalls, but Jesmar don’t come with velcro. Sorry, I just updated the post as I didn’t have that down.