BRITISH SERVICE DRESS UNIFORM MATERIAL

[TerryK]

Does anyone know of a source for the khaki serge material used for British officer's service dress jackets during WW1?

Thank you.

[Jack Sheldon]

It was not serge. It was either khaki barathea or whip cord. As for sources - well the same materials are still used by military tailors today, so I suggest you get in touch with one of them and ask - or else conduct an internet search using the key words above

Jack

[Old Tom]

Hello,

At risk of being unhelpful, I think many regiments had peculiar dress regulations and hence to be certain to get the right material it might be useful to seek information from an sucessor regiment to the one you are looking for. A contact might be the regimental museum.

Old Tom

[T8HANTS]

Hi

look up "Abimelech Hainsworth" on the web and take it from there or buy a copy of Skirmish and read the ad'.

[wainfleet]

It doesn't have to be a military tailor. Whipcord (by far the most typical material) is still available, though not of quite the same weight as in the Great War.

Whilst generally true, it isn't absolutely accurate to say that serge wasn't used, as the pre-1914 version of the officers' jacket with closed collar and shoulder cords (which sometimes survived into the war, modified or not - see the famous pic of Bairnsfather in his "trench cap") were made of a fine serge. Early SD's were sometimes made in a light barathea, but the more common type of barathea is a similar material to that used in WW2. These SDs seem to occur later on in the war (except for the Guards, who I believe used this material throughout).

You'll have difficulty finding the silk lining, and to make an accurate repro to measure will probably cost a good £600-700. If this is for re-enactment, it would be cheaper to find an original that fits and has been spoiled in some way, eg. stripped.