Overalls, coveralls, dungarees. No matter what word you use for them, they're a simple piece of clothing that's good at covering up kids and keeping them—well, maybe not clean, but at least less dirty than they would be otherwise.

Overalls — or shortalls — can take the brunt of kids' activity better than a party dress or a fancy suit, and cover up clothing to keep what's underneath clean—namely, the kid. They're also good at conveying a lot about your Kid Hero. Children in overalls, unlike the more adult perception, visually say a child is active, messy, rambunctious, and/or likely very rough on their clothes. You wouldn't put a preppy, fussy Momma's Boy in overalls, but you'd put them on a young Farmer's Daughter, Country Cousin, or the Bratty Half-Pint.

Boys are put in these often as basic playwear, but it's a unisex garment, even in the past when girls were expected to wear dresses to look "nice." A Tomboy can wear these to show she's not a frilly girl or prissy like other girls — and if she has a bit of girliness, she might wear a jumper^note The American term, where the pants are replaced with a skirt or her overalls in pastel colors, blending the best of both traits. Jumper dresses (called pinafore dresses in the UK) are a variant, where the pants lower half is replaced with a skirt, and can be made of denim as well as something fancier; they also convey older ideas of pinafores, a separate bib-and-apron garment worn over nice clothing which was easier to launder in a time when washing clothes was not only hard work for the launderer but rough on the clothes.

Overalls on kids additionally conveys some level of being unable to dress themselves easily; it's easy to get a kid into overalls since they're a one-piece garment that covers the majority of the torso and legs, meaning less clothing to put on, less clothing to get ruined, and more protection from scrapes and bruises on knees with long pants. In some cases, overalls are done when a child is prone to taking their clothes off in public — it's much harder for a young child to strip completely out of overalls fast, though not impossible. They sometimes show up as a more formal outfit for young boys who aren't quite old enough for a suit and have them be, if not dressed up, dressy enough.

Kids can also be in overalls as the rural character variant (such as the Country Cousin) that signifies them as of rural background, poverty, or country "bumpkin" assumptions compared to more "towny" characters. The urban/inner city variant with street smarts/cool fashion interpretation, like with older characters, has started to fall out of fashion but might still be referenced.

The Kiddy Coveralls look is particularly prevalent in animated and illustrated works, or works aimed at children, but can be in almost any media.

Note: Just wearing overalls and being a kid isn't enough of a trait to be listed here. The overalls have to be symbolic of the kid character's personality, looks, background, and/or actions.

A Sub-Trope of Clothing Reflects Personality and Meaningful Appearance. The Tomboy is prone to wearing these, as is the Bratty Half-Pint and a younger Country Cousin. Compare Overalls and Gingham, Childish Sailor Suit, and Boyish Shorts (unlike that trope, this can be a Unisex Trope). Can be put on someone hit by the Fountain of Youth. This trope is focused only on kids (about 12 or younger); the grown-up Super-Trope (often with a job) is Rough Overalls and applies to adults and teens even if they're dressing to appear younger for whatever reason.

Examples: