Hi all,
Please bear with me on this subject , as though who know me can confirm I`m not too good at posting on the internet
Relax, put yer feet up and try not to fall asleep please.
Right my view of this and the other posts about Female uniforms is based on collecting books and uniforms for the past 20 odd years. However that doesnt make me or anyone else for that matter ( on any subject at all ) an expert. The ONLY people who are experts in their `field` are the people who actually made the stuff in the first place. The only thing we can do is collect as much info such as photos ,examples and talking to folk who were there at the time, which is none of us.
Bearing in mind the vast number of factories making raw material, the differnce in quality over the years as raw material got rarer , and the added wood content to wool incresing to make up for this it`s not surprising that colours of all uniforms for the men were different , never mind the limited amount of female uniforms issued. So in other words the chances of having the same material colour are rare. KNOWING that basic material can degrade over time in colour ,even if kept out of direct light etc it makes originals not precise too.
Another thing is terminology of colours. Everyone says FeldGrau this and Grau that. I`ve seen original tunics etc of so varied colour from the same year from almost a Green ( nope not police ) to almost Lufty Blue/Grey. Unless you have the batch samples , and i know some who as some , it`s VERY difficult to almost impossible 60 years alter to get it correct. You should see the 16`x 5 ` roll of original Lufty material I have.Should I go around checking every one who does lufty and say..nope take that off it`s the wrong colour. Of course not.
Remember with colours for want of a better way of me getting my head around it, Ford and Toyota may call the Red they both use as `Sunset Red` but they could be completely different colour codes . And hence different colours.
So that covers colours, batchs and names for it.
Still with me ? Good.
Next is how do any of the suppliers/makes of any of the kit we have now manage to get the designs of it ?
Best things are original examples. Female kit is rare for the Axis side. I`ve seen some awful stuff in museums in France etc that are postwar or made up. So even so called originals need careful looking overs. Still the best thing though, and when used with wartime photos ( and film footage like the 3 second clip of an ss helfrin ,walking at the front of parade) is the best way to go. I`d say that any texts that are in books need reviewing carefully, as like me I take what someone as written as the truth. Not always the case!
So all these photos I`ve got out of books and mags need scanning etc and posting. There`s tons of them out there too. The other ( USA ?) forums have lots and it would be nice if someone asked them ever so nicely if we could put them all on one site and added to it. Just athought .?
To close, folk need to research before making comments ( me too ), keep their minds open and try and encourage the ladies to come into the hobby. Not slate them off or use them to put their group forward. I think the colours are close aand the design.Perhaps in future we as a hobby should ask a supplier where they got the design and colour etc from before we pick a single book up and start being not nice eh ?
Remember that although many women were issued uniforms , that many were not and were lucky to have an armband stating which service they were working for!!!!
Right I`ve said enough.Help with posting the photos would be nice . I`ve written this after reading some posts on here with a view to helping others.
Lads, remember that a lady in uniform is a morale booster too.
Regards,
Keith
PS I forgot to add that like for their male counterparts that theory based kits lists were by mid to late war just that. However I have a photo in colour that shows to ladies wearing blouses with a greenish tint.