Dressing as Bad guys...

[BellyTank]

I see that many people here, Indy fans and otherwise, take inspiration from and enjoy dressing in the Indy style and perhaps other movie and Golden Era heroes- but does anyone prefer/specialise in dressing as the bad guys?- Indy's arch-enemies, or any other bad types. I wonder what goes on at Indy gatherings- any bad guys there?- leather coats, little round sunglasses, black Fedoras or Homburgs and a limp....?
Devil's Advocate that I am- I feel a tendency toward the anti-hero or just plain ordinary bad guy- maybe as a way to be more individually expressive, if not only for some variety- too many heroes- that's surely no good.
Come on bad guys- let's hear about it...

BT(Bad Type)

 

[PADDY]

Oi Kiwi..! you wanna swim with de fishes..?

Amma goin to maka you an offa you canna refuse Martin..! Justa be thankful I don't turn you into a second rate repro A2..! eatta your liva and wash it down with mamma's Chianta

 

[BellyTank]

Sleep wit da Fishes?

Cement overcoat and all that...
That sounded like Hanibaldo Lektorini...

What do you think- oh Great Irish Jedi?

BT.

 

[Ken]

I really like the look we have for the bad guy in our film (though I think some of that is down to how the actor makes it look relly darn cool too):

Ken

 

[Wild Root]

Well, I know that if any one wore a Nazi uniform to an Indy summit they would offend a lot of people. Even though they look real tough and sharp they just have a real bad wrap.

I don’t dress as a bad guy even though some of the masses think I do. You know, what I’m talking about.

I like to see people do the unexpected and something different! I have a few friends that are into WWII living history and they have German Kriegsmarines white sailor uniforms and they look so close to the pre war US sailor outfits that they decided to wear German WWII uniforms to a USO dance a few years a go. It was funny! No one knew the difference. And no one got close enough to see the eagle with the swastika on the chest of the top.

Root.

 

[BellyTank]

The Navy Sailors whites? The German and US types are actually very different if you see them side by side- the hats are totally different too.

BT.

 

[zeus36]

I do have a leather German officer's long coat identical to Toth's from Raiders of the Lost Ark and I shaped a black fedora to some screen grabs of his hat. I've yet to wear the package with my double-breasted suit, but have worn those two items with some black jeans and boots.

Talk about getting stared at.... folks will look at the coat when worn by itself but when it is worn with that hat, something happens.

Best part is I got the coat for $20.00 at a flea market and the hat is a Resistol beaver XXX I found for $5.99 at a thrift store. Fedora (Steve) did the reblock after I cut the brim down.

 

[BellyTank]

That was the kind of thing I was thinking about- I have a couple of menacing leather coats too- yep they're pretty tough attire-
I like the German Afrika Korps field caps too- very kool and practical desert attire.
Was the Fedora originally a Western style?

 

[Wild Root]

Well BTank, the German sailor whites are white, with blue cuffs and bibed collar with white stripes. The US sailor whites before 1942 had the same colors. The hats are much the same if you're looking at the Donald Duck caps and so are some of the details on ether one. But any one today seeing any type of sailor outfit will just think Cracker Jack boy! In fact, the reason the US got rid of the blue collar with the white stripes and cuffs is because the German's Sailor outfit looked so close to ours. That's why the US just had all white suits for summer post Pearl Harbor.

Root.

Here is a photo of a German WWII sailor in blues. Couldn't find a photo in whites. Look at the hat, it's very much like the US Donald Duck cap. The Germans did have long ribbon tassles in the back though.

Here is a photo of a US sailor, very much the same. Just minor differences.

Ok, here is a photo of a German Sailor with out the hat. You can see more of his uniform in this.

 

[zeus36]

Was the Fedora originally a Western style?

Yep, just a plain jane cowboy hat. I had a nice gosgrain ribbon put on by Steve.

 

[BellyTank]

...Root

OK, I see what you mean- the similarities may outweigh the differences to the layman. But I still maintain that the caps are way off.
Close but no Cigar. But then it's not very important I guess...

BT.

 

[BellyTank]

That's what I'm talking about Paddy- that's one look I'm working on.
Inspired by the era, The English Patient, Indy, the desrt thing et. al.
But that site is a terrible example of cheesy wardrobe. I've seen it and you just need to look at some of their posed shots to get the 'cheese'. Their uniforms and hats are very bad as far as authenticity is concerned- totally wrong fabrics and badly copied styling. More like a Gay/Fetish clubbing outfitter in my view.
If you're interested in the good stuff,(not the Gay/Fetish style) I can point you in the direction of some local vendors who make top-notch vintage military repros.

BT.

 

[Wild Root]

BT.

We are some what experts on uniforms and the period of WWII. Like you said, the Layman wouldn't see any differences right off the bat. Even people going to swing dances don't know the first thing about a uniform. The hats I see are different in many ways but, have some of the same characteristics.

We know the type that could see some one in a 100% vintage suit and call that man a Zoot suiter. It's sad that the number of those people out number the folks who know the difference.

Well, now let’s forget about the sailor stuff and sees some cool outfits.

Root.

PS. Paddy, I have friends over here that are members of the 352 and they go fighting three times a year at Camp Roberts. My first Reenacting was with the 352. Yes, Mr. American Apple pie was a German his first time out. It was fun! More on that later.