Military Surplus fashion in the 1940s and 1950s

[Metatron]

Military clothing has always influenced civillian fashion.
But historically, military clothes worn in a civillian context, virtually unchanged from their original form, is something I associate on the one hand with people who wore them out of necessity, for example in the chaos that was post war Europe. (As per this article on post war French fashion which views the military surplus thing with disdain:http://tintrunk.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/frenchmens-fashions-1947.html)
Sartre:


And of course post 1960s when everything really loosened up with the plethora of subcultures etc etc...

So I was a bit surprised to find a lot of evidence of surplus military clothing worn with 'cred' much earlier, from the 1940s and 1950s:

Marlon Brando on the set of On the Waterfront:


James Dean:


Paul Newman:




Surplus sold through Sears:


And this one really stands out: Camouflage as fashion.




I never would have imagined that this was a thing in 1948. The idea that something could be lifted completely from it's original design and turned into a purely aesthetic feature. It isn't quite the same as adopting the design of a trench coat because of it's practical features. This is veering more into the subversive and fun side of things.

More parkas and things in the Canadian archives:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/cmc/009002-101.02-e.php?PHPSESSID=fmun3ree5d48iaqq0rjvid6ov7#e

The more things change the more they stay the same and all that...

 

[bn1966]

Great post..thanks very much.

 

[Anthony Jordan]

Thank you for sharing a rather fascinating article!

 

[Two Types]

Wasn't Paul Newman ex US Navy? so maybe it's not surplus but just his old deck jacket.

 

[jskeen]

I suspect that one of the original drivers of the surplus as fashion phenomenon is the fascination with aviation and pilots, the vast majority of who were either active duty or ex military. Many of the earliest articles of surplus uniforms to develop some cachet in the civilian market were aircrew related. Not the only factor, of course, but a big one, IMHO.

James

 

[Smithy]

Many thanks for posting these. I particularly love the Paul Newman and James Dean ones, they just ooze with why those two were so "cool".

 

[Treetopflyer]

Wasn't Paul Newman ex US Navy? so maybe it's not surplus but just his old deck jacket.

Yes he was. I think that it was his old deck jacket as well.

 

[pauleway]

Wasn't Paul Newman ex US Navy? so maybe it's not surplus but just his old deck jacket.

I had read an arcticle that it was his USN issue N-1 deck jacket that he wore in that film!

 

[Dinerman]

A bit off topic, but I (of course) love the red blanket coat in this one.

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

Very educational and puts camo. in a different context.
To quote Full Metal jacket:
Pogue Colonel: Marine, what is that button on your body armor?
Private Joker: A peace symbol, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Where'd you get it?
Private Joker: I don't remember, sir.
Pogue Colonel: What is that you've got written on your helmet?
Private Joker: "Born to Kill", sir.
Pogue Colonel: You write "Born to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?
Private Joker: No, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You'd better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you.
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man.
Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
Pogue Colonel: The what?
Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?
Private Joker: Our side, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Don't you love your country?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.
Private Joker: Aye-aye, sir.

I never really understood the peace protesters of the 60-70's who wore fatigues and comouflage?

 

[Sloan1874]

Apart from very hard wearing, warm and relatively cheap, I would imagine its the subversion/appropriation of the clothing's intent: "I'm fighting for peace, man!"

 

[Edward]

Interesting stuff.... I know in Northern Ireland it was very definitely viewed by my parents as clothing for use on a building site, or elseqwhere by people who could afford nothing else. There used to be a popular joke: "We were so poor when I was a kid that we had to wear army surplus clothing. It was no fun going to school dressed as a Japanese sniper". I remember my dad explaining this to a fifteen year old me, and how incomprehensible it was to him that it had become a fashion (really, at that time, anti-fashion) choice for the subculture circles in which I moved.

Wasn't Paul Newman ex US Navy? so maybe it's not surplus but just his old deck jacket.

I believe so.

I suspect that one of the original drivers of the surplus as fashion phenomenon is the fascination with aviation and pilots, the vast majority of who were either active duty or ex military. Many of the earliest articles of surplus uniforms to develop some cachet in the civilian market were aircrew related. Not the only factor, of course, but a big one, IMHO.

Very definitely.

Very educational and puts camo. in a different context.

Quite! I always wanted a camo jacket as a young kid, but it was verboten in our house (my parents were even funny about plain military green), for the obvious reasons. Mistakes used to get made, like the kid with a wooden cut-out rifle with a length of copper pipe for a barrel. Only has to glint in the sun and be seen in silhouette once...

I never really understood the peace protesters of the 60-70's who wore fatigues and comouflage?

Apart from very hard wearing, warm and relatively cheap, I would imagine its the subversion/appropriation of the clothing's intent: "I'm fighting for peace, man!"

Zactly. Sticking it to the man by adopting his uniform of oppression as a way of mocking him. Hell, that's largely what we were doing in the Eighties. Not to mention an earlier generation of punks and the uniforms some of them adopted...

 

[Metatron]

Interesting stuff.... I know in Northern Ireland it was very definitely viewed by my parents as clothing for use on a building site, or elseqwhere by people who could afford nothing else. There used to be a popular joke: "We were so poor when I was a kid that we had to wear army surplus clothing. It was no fun going to school dressed as a Japanese sniper". I remember my dad explaining this to a fifteen year old me, and how incomprehensible it was to him that it had become a fashion (really, at that time, anti-fashion) choice for the subculture circles in which I moved.

I imagine this notion was even more prevalent in the late 1940s, which must have made the camo-fashion jacket quite a statement at the time, especially since the camo is purely for the look and not for a hunting jacket or similar. Most army gear you see worn at the time was the most discreet and 'civilian' looking.Those Canadian designers were ahead of their time.

 

[wdw]

It was no fun going to school dressed as a Japanese sniper".

Made me laugh anyway. Hadn't heard that before. Interesting thread though.

 

[Metatron]

Interesting combination of surplus worn by a boy from 'Bicycle thieves', 1948, Italy:


German cap and US jacket.

 

[Ishmael]

Very interesting thread, so I hope no one minds if I resurrect it. Just wanted to mention that Freewheelers is exploring the transition of military into civilian clothing in this season's fall-winter lineup with their "Civilian Military Style Clothing" story/product line. Here's a pic of a few of the items.



http://freewheelers.co.jp/blog/archives/6686

As for others, the photo of Paul Newman in his N-1 just about perfectly depicts the transition of one actual military item to civilian use, but then there is the tale of how military wear drifted into and shaped civilian wears. Guess that's what FW is exploring this season.

Anyway someone mentioned the fascination with "aircrew" (planes, pilots etc) in an earlier post, and I found that interesting. The FW item I chose from the current lineup is named the "Air Crew Attached Hood Vest" and is a mongrel of several different military spec items.



http://blog.livedoor.jp/mcfly_store/archives/50776708.html



http://union-kobe.shop-pro.jp/?pid=68455688

 

[Atticus Finch]

Wasn't Paul Newman ex US Navy? so maybe it's not surplus but just his old deck jacket.

Yes, he was a Naval Aviator (gunner). He would have been issued an M-422A and probably an N-1.

AF

 

[Atticus Finch]

Zactly. Sticking it to the man by adopting his uniform of oppression as a way of mocking him. Hell, that's largely what we were doing in the Eighties. Not to mention an earlier generation of punks and the uniforms some of them adopted...

Also, many of the antiwar protesters of the '60s and '70s had been in the military and many had done a tour in Vietnam. They were wearing their own M-51s and slant pocket tropical fatigue shirts...albeit decorated differently from when they were "in country".

AF

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm not sure this is a military jacket on J-P here. There were so many civilian iterations that one could never be certain. I'm also pretty sure the civilian hunting jacket preceded the military, in the case of the Canadienne.

 

[FaceOfBoh]

This is great thread.

It brings back a memory that one of the original respondents mentioned, about clothes suited for the worksite. There was a great thread recently from the member who posted a colleague's sheepskin gloves that the father had worn while flying bombers in WWII. I sent that link on to my father. He grew up on a farm in western Canada and remembers, after the war, his father buying surplus items for work clothes. In particular a pair of sheepskin pants/trousers (probably matching a B3 jacket). My grandfather would wear these in the spring and fall when he had to put in hours and hours on the tractor. Probably perfect for 1. a cold metal seat; and 2. a cold, frosty Canadian morning.

Definitely not a fashion statement!