The Icg Newsletter
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE ICG NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COSTUMERS' GUILD, INC. A 501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION VOLUME VIII, ISSUE 6- NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 The International Costumers' Guild, Inc. (ICG), is an affiliation of amateur, hobbyist, and professional costumers dedicated to the promotion and education of costuming as an art form in all its aspects. This is an English feature article: Photo by P. J. O’Connor translation of the 1937 Byron Connell of the NJ/NY CG, and manager of last August’s edition of a work in Worldcon Masquerade, offers the following bibliographic guide German. to the military costumer: The second work is HOW TO GET STARTED: The Uniforms of the World’s Great Armies , RESEARCH on MILITARY UNIFORMS 1700 to the Present, edited A Bibliographic Essay by Byron P Connell by I. T. Schick. It consists New Jersey-New York Costumers’ Guild of essays by prominent “Uniform” means “all alike.” Before the mid-17th century, scholars of military dress, however, in Western Europe, soldiers in the same army did not arranged chronologically all dress alike. Before then, soldiers in the same unit, or on the from 1700 to the Cold same side, might wear a distinguishing mark on their clothing – War. It is copiously for example the leek worn by Welsh soldiers in their caps during illustrated. Henry V’s 15th century campaigns in France (William Not sure what a “hackle” Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV, Scene 1) -- but they did not dress is? Consult W. Y. uniformly. Carman’s Dictionary of The English New Model Army of 1645 was the first Western Military Uniform . It army to be clothed uniformly. Oliver Cromwell’s New Model defines such terms, and Army was raised by Parliament against King Charles I. illustrates many of them. Cromwell came into a large supply of red cloth and dressed the Osprey Publishing, entire army in red coats. The redcoats had come! Ltd., is a British publisher By the second half of the 17th century, uniform dress for of importance for research soldiers apparently was an idea whose time had come. (As Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois on uniforms. Osprey’s Charles Fort said, “When it’s time to railroad, you railroad.”) By “Men-at-Arms” and “Elite” series of paperbound books cover specific the 1690s, the Swedish army had replaced coats in regimental armies or units in specific periods, from ancient times to the present. Each colors with a blue uniform. Following the Restoration in 1660, the is copiously illustrated with photographs of vintage military dress and English army continued to dress most units in red. By the early paintings. While highly reliable, the brief text in an Osprey book may need 18th century, the French army was in silvery gray. Under Peter to be supplemented from other sources. I will refer to some of these works the Great, the Russian army wore clothes of a uniform pattern, below, under specific countries or periods. although the colors differed by unit. Osprey’s web site is . “Uniform” may mean “all alike,” but that does not mean http://www.ospreypublishing.com/ that uniforms are all alike. They differ not merely from country Narrower Sources. A number of works cover several countries’ forces to country, or from period to period, but by type of unit within a during a narrower time span. One country during the same period (e.g., infantry and cavalry units of the most valuable is Uniforms & Insignia of the Navies of World rarely dressed identically). How do you research uniforms in War II , prepared during the Second World War by the U.S. Navy’s Office sufficient detail to reproduce them as costumes? of Naval Intelligence. It is a comprehensive guide to Allied and Axis naval One might suppose the best source of information to be an uniforms intended to assist American troops to identify foreign uniforms army’s (or navy’s or air force’s) official uniform regulations. In they might encounter (i.e., how to tell a German seaman from a German some cases they may be; unfortunately, in others the regulation admiral). It’s a very useful work. Other broad works that are less may simply be “according to the sealed sample filed in the encyclopedic than Knötel include Guido Rosignoli’s Illustrated Quartermaster General’s office” – not very much help! Further Encyclopedia of Military Insignia of the 20th Century , or Marine research usually is needed. In this essay, I will endeavor to Badges & Insignia of the World , by Campbell and Reynolds. The latter provide advice on some of the most useful (and reliable!) print includes the uniforms and insignia of such obscure marine forces as those and Web sources. All the print sources and web sites are in of Denmark, Portugal, and Thailand! Web Site. NATO has an extremely English. A bibliography of the sources cited below appears at the useful web site that provides links directly to the defense ministry and end. military web sites of all NATO members. It is found at www.nato.int. General Sources. Two works are especially valuable for the Individual Countries. To prevent this from growing too long, I have breadth of their coverage. limited this section to the armies and marine corps of Great Britain and Uniforms of the World: A Compendium of Army, Navy, the United States. These also are the two countries with which I am most and Air Force Uniforms, 1700-1937, by Richard and Herbert familiar. Knötel and Herbert Sieg is a basic starting point that deals with Great Britain: Photographs, painting, and drawings frequently are virtually all European and many other countries’ armed forces. some of the best sources of information. Unfortunately, however, paintings It includes details of changes in uniform, by state, between 1700 and drawings by too many Parisian artists “illustrated” the 1815 uniforms and 1937 and is amazingly complete, especially given its breadth. of the British, Prussian, and Russian conquerors using no sources other than their own imaginations! THE ICG NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 PAGE 2 One far more reliable source is Richard Simkin. In the late This work also provides extensive descriptions of enlisted and officers’ 19th and early 20th centuries, Simkin was a prolific illustrator of uniforms of the armies, navies, and marine corps of the Union and the British army dress. A major strength of his illustrations is that Confederacy, and illustrations from period military supply catalogs. they cover the same units of the Royal Army over time – from the The Company of Military Historians published a series of Military Restoration to the First World War. A weakness is that Simkin is Uniforms in America. In four volumes, they cover military dress from the not always totally correct on the details. Two collections of French and Indian War through the Cold War. They include illustrations Simkin’s illustrations have been edited by W. Y. Carman: of rare and unusual uniforms – such as the dress uniforms of elite militia Richard Simkin’s Uniforms of the British Army: The units of the mid 19th century -- as well as more common ones. Because Cavalry Regiments and Richard Simkin’s Uniforms of the different illustrators drew the plates, they vary somewhat in usefulness; British Army: The Infantry Regiments . Carman identifies however, they are accompanied by text describing the uniforms and Simkin’s lapses from accuracy. He also adds a good description identifying sources. of the changes in uniforms between the mid 17 th century and the As it does for the British Army, Osprey publishes titles covering First World War. virtually the entire period of the U.S. Army in its Men-at-Arms and Elite The Osprey Men-at-Arms series also covers the entire series. They include the American Revolution (1775-1793), the War of 1812 history of British Army uniforms. Volumes include the French (1812-1814), the Mexican War (1846-1848), the American Indian Wars and Indian Wars (1760s), the wars of the French Revolution and (1850-1890), the Civil War (1861-1865), the post-Civil War period, (1865- Napoléon (1789-1815), the Crimean War (1850s), the First World 1890), the First World War (1890-1920), the Second World War (1941- War (1914-1918), the Battledress uniform of the Second World 1945), and the Cold War (through the mid-1980s). War (actually 1937-1961), and virtually everything in between. Other books profusely illustrated with photographs include those Among other sources, Peter Cochrane’s Scottish Military published by Stackpole Books in its “G.I. The Illustrated History of the American Soldier,” series. These include volumes on the Civil War and the Dress is a good source of information on the uniforms of Scottish First and Second World Wars. These volumes include photos of uniforms regiments from the middle ages to the present. Charles Hamilton off the body as well as on their wearers. Smith was in Spain during Wellington’s Peninsular Campaign; A number of sources provide a level of close detail useful for his paintings of British soldiers of the period are from life and costumers on portions of uniforms. The Smithsonian Institution, for may be relied upon for accuracy. They are reproduced in example, has a catalog of its collection of U.S. Army enlisted personnel Wellington’s Army: The Uniforms of the British Soldier, rank chevrons (Chevrons: Illustrated History and Catalog of U.S. , with a text by Philip J. Haythornthwaite. Neil 1812-1815 Army Insignia ) that is profusely illustrated and provides detail on how Leonard’s Wellington’s Army Recreated in Colour chevrons were made. A second Smithsonian bulletin, American Military Photographs is a book of photos of British re-enactors in Insignia, 1800-1851 , illustrates the Institution’s collection of cap and Napoléonic era uniforms.