Military use of blue denim

[Charlie Delta]

Something I never given much thought, but recently got more interested in is the use of blue denim by the military.

I was looking through a book on WWII gear I have and came across a couple of pics but without any further explanation.

And a google search yielded only one result.

Apparently from early till 1900's the beginning of WWII military work clothing was made out of blue denim.

Paul's book mentions it, but only briefly and mostly goes into who produced it.

I'd like to know more about this, and I figured it could make for a good thread.

Here's is what I found so far:

(these are the 3 images I got from that book, I looked through it again, but these were really the only denim pieces)

The following is taken from the only informative website I could find on it, here.:

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History of the Army Blue Denim Work Uniform

Blue Denim work clothing was adopted as Standard by the Army on 11 June 1919, replacing brown work clothing used before. The top was a jumper style pullover, the trousers had five pockets -- two front, two hip, and a watch pocket. In 1933 a one-piece work suit (coveralls) was adopted in blue denim for use by mechanics, drivers, machinists, and others in similar roles. This was in addition to and did not replace the two piece work uniform. These blue denim coveralls were used until replaced by herringbone twill (HBT) one piece coverall in 1938.

The Army Blue Denim Work Uniform of 1940

In 1940, after field complaints about pullovers ripped down the front, the jacket style of blue denim work uniform was adopted. It had two large front pockets toward to bottom of the garment and buttoned up the front. It was made to be closed at the collar.

At the same time in 1940, the blue denim trousers were improved by using a style made from the same pattern as the khaki summer uniform trousers, with the front pockets moved to the side. The M-1937 "Daisy Mae" style hat was also provided in blue denim (with white stitching visible) to complete the uniform, as seen in the photo at left, made in 1940. These blue denim garments were used until replaced by the HBT two piece field uniforms in 1941.

Although the replacement was standardized, the blue denim uniforms continued in use for a few more years as supplies were used up. Since the great increases in supplies for World War II came after the HBT uniforms had been adopted, blue denim garments were relatively rare and are not much associated with the Army in World War II.

Blue Denim in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

Prior to World War II the Marine Corps also used blue denim fatigue uniforms, similar to the Army pattern but with a two-piece bib overall and jacket design. They also adopted a one-piece coverall. All USMC garments had "USMC" metal buttons. As with the Army, the USMC blue denim work uniforms were replaced in the early 1940s by sage green HBT or camouflage utility uniforms.

In 1901, Navy regulations authorized the first use of denim jumpers (shirts) and trousers. Regulations were changed in 1914 to allow the dungaree outfit to be worn by both officers and enlisted sailors. Enlisted personnel in the U.S. Navy wore blue denim trousers for work duty throughout World War II, with long or short-sleeved blue cotton chambray shirts. Several shades were used, but the shirt was usually a lighter shade of blue than the trousers, and lighter than the Army or USMC utility uniforms. Most enlisted personnel on board a ship would be dressed in the denim dungarees with the lighter blue shirt, a tee shirt, or no shirt. The trousers were straight-leg, not bell-bottoms. In the photo to the right (ed: above), taken at Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas in August 1942, an aircraft mechanic is fueling a Navy plane dressed in the blue denim trousers and short sleeved chambray shirt topped by a swabbie hat.

Sergeant George Camblair on fatigue duty in his barracks, wearing blue denim work uniform. Fort Belvoir, VA, September 1942.

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Use of denim in the navy seems to be more commonly known, or atleast I've seen more pics of stuff, but again, any info is welcome.

[Paul T]

Great post. I have to spread some Rep around before I can do it again, though.

I managed to track down a lot of denim info re the Navy, but lots of that army info is new to me. Would be great if you could PM me with more info on the book, just in case updates loom.

Great stuff, though. The other big war-related area was POW denim, which was very common in the pacific campaign. The pants in particular looked great. I can't remember if we printed any photos in the book, but I know I have some somewhere, I'll do some digging.

Edit: I was thinking the hat looked great till I realised that was the one being worn. Don't think I could get away with that one...

[Charlie Delta]

I just briefly looked through my copy of your book and I couldn't find anything (pics or info) on the POW denim.

I'd like to see better pics of any of this stuff, so anything is welcome.

And re: the hat, in the picture he has the brim up, I can imagine it easier to pull of with the brim down.

[40ozprophet]

that bag is something else. would love to have one. where did you find this book cotton?

[Charlie Delta]

The book is basicly a collectors guide/catalogue on the US army WWII European Operarion equipment, it has everything from shoes to GI condoms and candy

It's quite complete, but unfortunatly these were the only 3 denim pieces in it...

[jake431]

I can't vouch for the quality of these particular items, however WWII Impressions does make repro US Army denim. I've had other items from them, and at the very least the workmanship is good.

For your perusal: http://www.wwiiimpressions.com/usarmy.html

Scroll down just past half the page, and you should see the denim. You can also see at the header, re-enactors decked out.

-Jake

[Forever Heavy]

You can get that bag on eBay. Search "WW2 Denim Bag"

There's 2 for sale right now.

[Charlie Delta]

Jake, you beat me to it.

Anyway as I had just uploaded that picture I'll post it for completeness sake:

Daisymea:

I also came across these two jackets on vintagetrends.com:

This is a US army denim work jacket. Overall in excellent condition with strong dark colors. The main body has a lovely grainy look. The sleeve are also lightly worn. This jacket comes with 5 removable buttons, which believes to have been replaced from the original ones. Overall excellent in this fine to hard condition.

Year 1940's

This is an orignal army issuue work jacket. It comes complete with the 5 star buttons. The indigo denim has an overall grainy look. The sleeves of the jacket are slightly lighter in color. The jacket is slightly soiled, with heavenly soiled to both sleeves. It has have an 8inch repair to the seam of the right arm. Overall a nice jacket with plenty of character.

year: 1940s

And found this repro of a denim Barracks Bag on aefsupply.com:

[jake431]

Cotton,

No worries, thanks for posting those pictures. One nice thing about this military denim is the very seriously muted workwear appeal. It has a different "feel" than civilian workwear, like the Warehouse or LVC stuff. If anyone has had any experience with WW2 Impressions denim, I'd love to hear about it.

I've hunted around on Vintage Trends for stuff before - field jackets and the like - but never pulled the trigger as sometimes their info is off, and since the prices aren't fantastic, I'd rather comb ebay for stuff. But, that second jacket looks legit with the star buttons. The first one is probably legit but doesn't sound like it has the copper star buttons, although perhaps you could get some from WW2 Impressions or another reproduction vendor.

-Jake

[superBobo]

Great thread cotton!

I occasionally see those chore/deck jackets with shawl collar on ebay, love the style. Always rather expensive though. Theres a bunch of japanese labels doing stuff in that vein, which might be a good option. And I belive sugarcane has done that hat posted at the top aswell?

now for something more obscure

Danish army denim (not blue) selvage uniform pants that I got last spring or so. Unfortunatly too big for me, would fit someone with a 34-35 size better:

[tweeds]

In the Museo Del Risorgimento in Rome, there are a pair of workpants known as 'Garibaldi's jeans'. These pants known as 'Genovesi' (Genes/Jeans) were said to be worn by Giuseppe Garibaldi (the 'Lion of Liberty' - and Italy's George Washington) and his sailors in the 1800s.

There are different stories about the fabric these 'genes' could have been made of, from cotton duck, to wool. Although in Garibaldi's case, it seems that he wore indigo blue, cotton 'genes'.

N.B. giuseppe garibaldi

[Paul T]

Levi's did their own denim bag as part of a special edition a couple of years back, complete with a pair of 1937 501s. The jeans weren't great, in terms of finish, but the bag was terrific. Levi's didn't produce any military denim, although Blue Bell produced airforce jump suits, and Lee won their first military contract in WW1, I think they got the Union All selected as an official fatigue uniform.

Of course, I forgot to mention that denim, or denim-like fabrics, have been part of military fashion for several centuries. An exhibit at the museum of Nimes has several jackets, including one military one, in a serge de Nimes that, while it contains wool, looks a lot like denim. One of the reasons synthetic indigo was invented was because the Germans wanted a blue dye for their navy uniforms, but the Brits controlled the biggest sources of natural indigo.

There's speculation that the cut of denim pants like the 501 is based on military items; the whole shape of the yoke etc was apparently to conserve cloth and ease production.

Edit: There are photos of POW denim in the book Denim (page 60), which were supplied by Heller Café. They look to be based on the original US Army fatigues, with the same pocket stitching, and a back-yoke. Cotton Duck tells me they used recycled army fatigues for the purpose, too.

[OMG]

There's a lot of cool stuff like this at The Rugged Museum in Tokyo. Original, deadstock, repros. And a recent Free and Easy magazine was dedicated to Navy wear/denim. I predict this will be an upcoming trend. No more 5 pocket cowboy jeans. But more military, deck pants, baker pants, painter pants, old work wear style.

With suspender buttons, zip fly, slash pockets, loose cuts, triple seam stitching, external pockets, waist cinch, no red tabs, light oz., non selvedge, non riveted, white stitches...

I'm spending a lot of time looking at these types of trousers recently. I especially like the white stitching!

[superBobo]

^^I hope said style will be more availble. Im all about triple stiches and tool pockets myself. Carhartt b03 are recommended, light oz, white stitching and great cut.

Would love some deck pants.

[OMG]

Another thing I like about these pants is that there is no yoke. usually. The lack of yoke and copper rivets is very appealing to me. They're like jeans, but they're not. Something different . The light oz and loose cut are great for the summer too. Japan's humidity will kill you!!

[Charlie Delta]

3 Images taken from the MRKT book, by Cone:

(sorry for the quality of the pics, I still don't have a scanner...)

US Army WWll Duffel Bag from the collection of Eric Kvatek:

US Navy Parka/pullover jacket from the collection of Koji Kusabe:

Same as above, but darker still. From the collection of Robert Medelin:

(note how this piece has a felled seam running through the front middle as opposed to the one piece contruction of the piece above)

[jake431]

I really like those pullover/parka things, but I am not sure I could wear one well, myself. How can one get a hold on this marketing book from Cone?

Thanks,

-Jake

[Charlie Delta]

Sadly I believe it's all gone...

[cash]

I’d love to see a Mr. Freedom interpretation of that pullover – I could never afford a Mr. Freedom interpretation of that pullover, nonetheless, I’d love to see one.

[Charlie Delta]

Here are the Buzz Rickson repros of the military pants and jacket and a navy jacket, taken from the Lightning Denim Indigo master issue:

This seems to be kind of deadend though, as it appears that there is hardly any more info on the subject out there, aswell as that there seem to only be these pieces.

Interesting is that the jacket on the left with the navy buttons is labeled "Army" on vintagetrends.com as seen in an earlier post.

[rocco]

It's easy to see where Sugarcane (sister company of Buzz Rickson, isn't it) got the inspiration for the hand woven SC40600 jeans/work pants.

[Charlie Delta]

The Jeans magazine:

[Charlie Delta]

[blackgrass]

I have a older friend that was in the Green Berets and later in the CIA that was stationed in Guatemala during the 60's. One day he brought in this awesome old photo of himself that was taken during that time.

He was wearing a pair of jeans, denim jacket with no shirt on underneath, a smokey the bear hat, a leather bandolier across his chest full of rounds and carrying a 30-40 Krag. The 30-40 Krag was used during the Spanish-American War but he really liked it for whatever reason. He was and still is a total badass! I haven't seen him in a few years but maybe I can get a copy of the photo to post. It's killer...

[slowdownarthur]

This is a great idea for a thread Cotton.

These are a few photographs from the exhibition 'Denim; the fabric of our lives'.

'The prevalence of denim in military clothing had become so pervasive by the mid C20 that it featured in popular terminology. Beale's Dictionary of Slang states that the Durham Light Infantry fighting in Tunisia in 1943 was known as the 'Denim Light Infantry'.

Newly introduced uniforms were often made of denim as an economic expedient, such as the first British Home Guard Air Raid Precautions uniforms that consisted of overalls made from 'Bluette No.T.500, a denim fabric that repelled dirt and oil...

...The Danish army replaced their woolen uniforms with denim - as evidence of Danish modernity perhaps?...'

Pennie Alfrey (School of Art and Design, Loughborough University 2008)

Ladies Civil Air Guard Overall, 1930, similar to the 'Bluette No.T500' worn by Air Raid Precautions Guard (ARP) in WW11.

Grey lightweight denim dress, St John's Ambulance Uniform, 1950-60.

Navy denim pieces...

Royal Navy Jersey Tunic (' regulation issue dark blue oiled wool') with pale blue denim epaulettes. Mid C20

[jake431]

What a great post and photos - thanks for adding them to the thread. I am eager to hear more about this exhibition.

-Jake

[Shorty Long]

That WWII impressions website has some amazing pieces...too bad the website is very poorly designed. I now know where to go to get some 'military-inspired' gear.

[jake431]

That WWII impressions website has some amazing pieces...too bad the website is very poorly designed. I now know where to go to get some 'military-inspired' gear.

I agree their website is kinda underwhelming, but I've been to their office - it's not a store really, though you can buy stuff from it - and the quality is good. I had a pair of Russet Service shoes from them that I wore to death. I don't know anyone who has tried their denim, and I am sure it's not Japanese obsession denim quality, but I think the fit is accurate and the stitching quality is good.

-Jake

[slowdownarthur]

What a great post and photos - thanks for adding them to the thread. I am eager to hear more about this exhibition.

-Jake

Thanks Jake.

There are plans for the show to go to Portsmouth, UK in January and there are some photos of the exhibits at thehubcentre on Flickr.com. If you'd like more info maybe I can help or pass you on to someone else who can.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehubcentre/sets/72157604637083467/

[Supawiwi]

Cross post from the workshirt thread

WWI BR repro. Brown denim no selvage. Love the fit.

Don't know if it will fade or not.

Sorry can't manage to rotate this fucking fit pic