30 november 2010

The overall or "Ovve"

The overall or ovve has been a part of the Swedish and Finnish student culture since the early 1980s. Almost every education program has it's own student association and although most associations have coloured overalls, in Mälardalen it is engineers, scientists, and teachers who wear theirs most dilligently.

The ovve is a garment that explains "who" you are. The color is a symbol for your study subject and patches or other attachments give an impression of what you do in you free time. Overalls are generally used when students gather for special events, especially during orientation weeks. During Swedish 'rookie weeks' (the Swedish version of Introduction Week for new students) ovves are most frequently used to identify the older students from those who begin that year.

The overall is a substitute for usual clothes and should be treated roughly! The overall is to get dirty in, drawn on, torn and destroyed. You can have fun without having to worry about getting grass stains on your knees! The ovve is purposefully durable, and capable of withstanding the wildest behavior (though they may seem a little worn out over time).

The most important mark on the overall is the school/subject emblem on the back. This may not be covered under any circumstances. Patches that you attach to overall are usually bought from your own student union and then swapped with people from other unions. This is often done at the larger national student parties where students from all over the country gather to celebrate. Students from all universities have ovves (different universities have different colours for different study programmes.) If you want to change the "accessories" for your ovve with others it should be done according to certain rules.

The only way to wash the overall is with the owner inside

A rough guide to swapping ovve parts at MDH:

When you swap the following overall parts it signifies that you have done the following with the person you swap with...

Arm or leg = General body fluids
Back pocket = **** ***
Collar = Sambo (living with your partner)
The tip of the breast pocket = engaged
Whole breastpocket = married
Other Pockets = Friend or snogging partner

Active Overalls in Västerås

Dalo: Yellow
Computer Science/ Interaction Design

LTD - Liner Society for Applied Computer Science: Purple
Applied Computer Science / Robotics

IMF-International Marketing Förening: Light blue (baby blue)

Mälekon: Blue
Economists

Beware: Red
Behavioral scientists

VIPS prosperous, intelligent, lively Sisters: Turquoise (Tunics since 2009)
Nurses

FBI United ByggIngengörer: Dark blue
Construction Engineers

PPM - PerPentuum Mobile: Dark Green
Environment / Energy Sciences

STRETCH: Pink t-shirt / soft trousers
Physiotherapists

ALF-Teacher Association: Brown

M.A.C.H-Manfred AirCoHolics: Grey
Aeronautical engineers

International Committee: White t-shirts (students) / Black t-shirts (fadders)
International Students (all disciplines)