US Navy & US Marine Corp Boat Cloaks, and US Army Capes

[Doctor Damage]

US Army cape dated 1938 for Lt Col CW Lewis. The lining is red so artillery or air defense.

 

[Doctor Damage]

For some reason I had forgotten to post this image, which is from an old book or handbook on US military uniforms of the WW2 era. Note the US Army cape at bottom left.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Here's an old USMC cloak dated from the 1930s and apparently made for Lt Henry William Buse Jr.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Just spotted this on Reddit, the user didn't know what it was but they did note it was dated 1963. It's a US Army cape, of course, probably infantry.

 

[Doctor Damage]

From the USMC photo archives: "Sgt. Maj. Micheal P. Barrett, the 17th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, attends the Staff Non-commissioned Officer’s Academy Quantico Career Course 1-15 Mess Night at the Clubs at Quantico, Va., Dec. 3, 2014. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Marionne T. Mangrum)."

 

[Doctor Damage]

USN boat cloak, dated 1924.

 

[coastie_classics]

So I was finally able to get into a sewing class and accomplished this very rough draft. Funny looking, I know, but didn’t want to waste good fabric so this one was all made from clearance scrap. It’s built off a commercial pattern (vogue 8959) so it’s fitted as opposed to a 3/4 circle. When laid out on the ground, it is about a 1/2 circle.

Next draft will be to get it expanded with bigger panels to 3/4 circle and then practicing until I can get the collar bigger and closer to the way it should look. Also longer past the knees.

Between the classes and the scrap, fabric, sunk about $100 so far.

 

[Doctor Damage]

^
applause for your adventuresome spirit!
fingers crossed you can achieve something wearable
remember to make sure the collar points are fairly long and pointed

if you have a lot of "throwaway" cloth you could just make a huge 3/4 circle, in three panels, and not bother with shaping the shoulders... see what it looks like... there's a danger that too much shaping will be too restrictive

anyways good luck, looking forward to updates

 

[VansonRider]

Hello All,
I have several Yugoslavian alpine cloaks, a bunch of different shelter halves that convert to cloaks, a French policeman’s cloak, and a Soviet Officers rain cloak.
This looks like the only active cloak thread on FL and if there’s an interest here, I can post them?
Or if this is specifically for Marine Boat Cloaks only I’m happy to start a more general thread.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Hello All,
I have several Yugoslavian alpine cloaks, a bunch of different shelter halves that convert to cloaks, a French policeman’s cloak, and a Soviet Officers rain cloak.
This looks like the only active cloak thread on FL and if there’s an interest here, I can post them?
Or if this is specifically for Marine Boat Cloaks only I’m happy to start a more general thread.

There's a more general thread on capes/cloaks at the link below which is probably a good place to post photos of your collection. This thread I think we should keep more focused on US military capes etc. I'm looking forward to your photos.

general thread on Capes/Cloaks

 

[Doctor Damage]

It looks like the Marine Shop is offering the USMC boat cloak again, via special order:

https://marineshop.net/product/boat-cloak-male-special-order/

 

[Doctor Damage]

USMC boat cloak "in the wild". Saw this image on Reddit.

 

[Doctor Damage]

US Army cape, dated 1938, spotted on eBay. The seller said it is a nurse's cape but I don't believe that, it looks just like the men's cape, and the purple lining would suggest "civil affairs corp" (according to Wikipedia), although photo interpretation is a dodgy business and if the lining is actually maroon then it would mean medical, veterinary, etc. Anyways, a lovely garment in excellent condition, and given its age a real survivor.

 

[Aloysius]

I wonder how much it hurt the tailoring trade in the US when US dress uniforms went from being basically a voucher redeemed at the tailors in the area to being factory-produced garments.

Indeed I wonder if that actually increased costs to some extent because it means necessarily making too much, probably the additional cost of alterations (which for some people will actually never be sufficient to ensure the right fit), etc.