The following was originally published at: www.lostbattalions.com.
Special thanks to Ed Walton for
allowing us to use his article: "German Field Blouse Models 1933-1943: How They Fit"
here on this site.
The German Army
introduced a new field blouse (Feldbluse) in
1933 to replace the 1927 model service coat (Dienstrock)
that is associated with the "Reichswehr"
era. The new blouse gave the German soldier an
updated, modern look that was quickly refined by
several changes in 1934 and 1935 into the classic
"M36" field blouse; the most famous German
uniform of the National Socialist era (with the
possible exception of the black SS Dienstanzug).
The basic design that was introduced in 1933 and
shortened in 1934 was carried forward on virtually all
military and Nat'l Socialist Party uniform coats, with
the exception of the panzer jacket (Panzerjacke)
and the "M44" field blouse, during the Third
Reich. Note that these uniform jackets do not fit
anything like a civilian suit or any current service
uniform of any nation we know of. The following are
the key fitting elements of the WWII German uniform:
The overall length is short (please read below for
more on this), the arm holes are small and the back is
narrow. This gives the wearer the overall feeling of
smallness in the arm and shoulder area and a form
fitting feeling in the body. This feeling is commonly
mistaken as the jacket size being too small. This is
because modern garments (with the exception of fine
Italian or European suits) are no longer made to this
form fitting method and no one is used to this
feeling.
This Field Blouse is
"short!"
The actual goal
behind shortening the field blouse was to make it more
suitable for wear in a motorized environment by
raising the skirt high enough so that the back hem
would not touch a vehicle seat and become soiled. Hugo
Boss is usually credited/blamed by the popular press
for the snappy appearance of Third Reich uniforms,
although the present Boss firm, founded by Hugo's sons
after the war, makes the claim that Hugo was merely a
sewing contractor. Whoever the designer was, he was
quite an illusionist; instead of merely shortening the
M33 field blouse by 6 inches, he reworked the entire
garment to create the false impression of greater
height. The first step in the process was to raise the
sleeve cuff end up from the root knuckle of the thumb
to the wrist bone (a full three inches), exposing the
entire hand. Then the hem of the skirt front was
raised up to the same height from down at the first
finger joint (about 6.5 inches). The third step was to
raise the back of the skirt another two inches, so
only the top half of the butt was covered. Lastly, the
belt position was raised the width of the belt, so
that the bottom edge of the belt aligned right about
bend of the elbow.
The resulting uniform
was an optical illusion which made every soldier
wearing it appear several inches taller than he
actually was. The short length of the jacket and the
high position of the waist belt fooled the mind's eye
into seeing almost every German soldier as a tall Nordic
"superman" with a trim torso and amazingly
long legs. Reportedly, the new design was test modeled
before groups of women (what we now call "focus
groups") to make sure it would have the desired
effect on the opposite sex, thus raising the troops'
morale.
Please study the
accompanying photos to better understand how the
German tunic is actually supposed to fit. Pay
particular attention to the position of the hands
relative to the sleeve length and the length of the
jacket body.
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