I Certainly Missed the Action On “That Thread !!

[longhuntr74]

Yes...this is me...and my First Sergeant. The framed flag (called a guidon) is my going away gift from my last command.

[Lachlan09]

Excellent photo ! Any more ?

[thescot]

Lachlan09, you are giving ole Todd a run for his money in the "great guy to know and have around" department.

This has been a very interesting thread, and I appreciate it. Thanks.

And you're right about the ugliest hat in the British army.

[thescot]

. . . I feel things get too precious sometimes. I’ve never worn any sort of hat with my kilt, but that’s my choice. I’m from a generation which didn’t wear hats, mainly because it messed up my blow-dried hair !!. . . .

Me, too. I was just a young boy when John Kennedy walked down the avenue to his inauguration, and I suspect that his style was the end of hats for men in the US.

But as I grow older, I have returned to my early love of hats. I even wore a nice Dobbs snap brim straw with my grandfather as a boy. I now wear hats almost all the time, especially since my thinning hair no longer lends itself to blow drying lest I look like an old geezer trying to fool someone into thinking I still have a lot of hair.

Now that I have taken to cutting my once long, beautiful locks (which I once wore like Dirty Harry) to a very short length, hats don't leave me with hat head. So, I wear hats a lot. Fedoras (straws and felts), bonnets, and tams, and even berets.

I like my regimentals tams the best with jeans. But I also wear a green Royal Marines beret quite often as it is almost as small as a Foreign Legion beret.

Just thought I'd throw all this useless info out there. Here is a photo of me in a green beret at the St. Paddy's parade last year (2009).

[berserkbishop]

As much as I dont like berets personally, I do have to admit that one would me much more comfortable and convenient to store than my 8 point in uniform. Anyone know the history on the 8 point cover currently worn my US Marines and Naval personnel while in fatigues? I know it is a bit off the beret topic, but I figured heck you went over the garrison cap!

Bishop

[macwilkin]

As much as I dont like berets personally, I do have to admit that one would me much more comfortable and convenient to store than my 8 point in uniform. Anyone know the history on the 8 point cover currently worn my US Marines and Naval personnel while in fatigues? I know it is a bit off the beret topic, but I figured heck you went over the garrison cap!

Bishop

If I remember correctly, it originates from the WWII Herringbone Twill uniform worn by the Marines and the Army.

T.

[longhuntr74]

If I remember correctly, it originates from the WWII Herringbone Twill uniform worn by the Marines and the Army.

T.

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing pictures of General Joe "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell wearing one during the Burma Campaign. Just did some searching online and it apparently originates out of a herringbone twill cap issued to both Marines and Army for jungle service during that time...for some reason the Army changed and the Marines kept theirs.

[Lachlan09]

You look good in the St Paddy's photo ! The beret looks fine !

About the USMC fatigue cap, military fatigue caps could be a subject on its own. US forces have had a whole range of them, from ones like baseball caps, to kepi-like ones and 8-pointers etc.

One thing’s for sure, whatever weird and wonderful clothing items have been launched upon any country’s unsuspecting army soldiers/marines/navy/air-force personnel through the years, servicemen always find imaginative ways to make the shapeless look tailored and the ugly look smart.

The 8-pointer is a case in point, a mundane headgear which, once “prepared”, looks very smart even on parade.

Except the British Cap GS 1943 of course – nobody could rescue that ! In the end, knitted khaki berets became available near war's end in limited numbers mainly for officer's and senior NCO's (presumably as private purchase), infinitely preferable to that khaki cloth bag the British squaddie of 1944 had to put up with ! As an aside, my father once saw some Scottish troops who, in the absence of proper Tam O’Shanters, had pressed Cap GS 1943’s into service with a khaki toorie. Not being designed and cut as TOS’s, they looked terrible !

[Lachlan09]

I must admit, I’ve had a relatively hat-free life in my 56 years. If I add up all the hats I’ve worn over the years, then I think it would be:-
a) School-cap – For the early part of my primary school “career” (from about age 5 to age 8), I wore a typical British schoolboys’ cap. See photo below of the “Just William” stories by Richmal Crompton. My Campie Primary School cap was all-maroon with the school badge on the front.

b) Knitted grey open-faced balaclava – Typical British kids’ woollen balaclava of the 1930’s to early 1960’s period. I had a series of them from about age 2 to 8. I liked my grey one best. I sometimes wore it to school in the snow and freezing winds of winter, along with my blazer, duffle-coat, a pair of black rubber wellies and almost knee-length (and abrasive) grey school shorts – plus my brown leather school-bag worn on my back. Much more importantly, I also used to wear it to role-play at “Ivanhoe” (Roger Moore was “Ivanhoe” on TV at that time). Can’t find a photo though !

c) About age 9 or 10, I had a first of all a flat bunnet of my dad’s to wear sometimes when I was in goal in our local football games. It was a bit big though. I then changed it for a US Army surplus olive-green baseball cap – strangely in a small size which fitted me.


d) From about age 11, in 1964, my head became a hat-free zone. Copying my Mod brother, I had my short hair razor-cut and listened to lots of soul music, British-style R&B and danced a lot. Then the hard rock period took me over in the late Sixties and everything grew !

e) In 1975, along-with my longish hair and side-burns, brown corduroy bomber jacket with the huge white fleecy collar, wide-collared shirt, flared Levis and zip-up boots or multi-coloured trendy Kickers shoes, I took to wearing an oatmeal tweed flat cap in the American style ( triangular paneled crown with a button in the centre), a bit like Gallagher & Lyle wore.

f) Re-inventing myself several times in the 1970’s to the current scene, I returned to my first love in the late 1970’s – soul, R&B and ska. For a while, I wore a neat little Jamaican pork-pie similar to the photo below (the photo was borrowed from a blog by an ex-British skinhead – proper Trojan skinheads that is, not those right-wing skins with shaved heads and swastikas). I used it in 1980 for my rudeboy/Mod persona ! I had my hair cut about a 3 all over at that time. Unlike the photo, mine didn’t have the front brim turned-up and I didn’t keep a “skinhead trend” cigarette voucher in the hat-band ! I loved my hat and took it on holiday to the South of France. It was popular with the girls but it lost its shape when I put it in my suitcase. After that, I became more like Duran Duran/Spandau Ballet/ABC/Haircut 100 in fashion and hair !! Big hair was back ! I’m not the guy in the photo !





g) Since then, no more hats for me to wear except my beloved collection of New Orleans Saints caps. I even got my colour photo in the UK’s Daily Mail wearing one, along with a “sandok” (a loose sleeveless tee-shirt/underwear shirt type of thing), long cargo-shorts and Birkenstock sandals. (it was an article I wrote about Brit stiffness on streetwear, responding to a typical Mail article on dropping standards on British males and negative American influences – what what ?). I got used to dressing like this for chilling-out while working/living in the Philippines. Lots dressed like me off-duty, Filipino and expat and was good in hot weather. My article was responded to by The Mail who commented that I typified a modern breed of “baby-man” or “man-child” or something. Fair comment, I was 50, back in the UK looking to get out abroad again and I didn’t give a 4X for formality at every turn !!



If my nearly 16 year-old son gets a hat, I hope it’s one like this. This pork-pie’s got style !

[Regnifne]

US Special Forces

FYI, while the pic may be of Green Berets (the Army SpecOp team), the black beret is now standard headgear of the entire US Army. I know a lot of SpecOp guys who were a little miffed that every other soldier got the opportunity to wear something that was a great source of pride and elite stature.

I'll take my Navy "Dixie Cup" any day! But my 8-point camo field cap was always my favorite . . .