Wearing ex military issue and items

[Troglodyte]

This is a tricky one...

The British Army has never had a problem with civilians wearing ex-army issue clothing, as they have for generations sold off their surplus. The likes of eBay is full of both used and un-issued surplus items, and the range of clothing and footwear available is impressive.

The likes of ex-navy duffle-coats, or army greatcoats, did great service among those civilians (students and sixth-formers particularly, I seem to remember) who valued them in the '60s and '70s, but the glut of ex-cold war era gear swamped supply with very cheap alternatives about 30 years ago.

The difficulty is the insignia (as Jock has implied) that has particular value in regimental terms - both to the regiments now gone, and to the men who served. 'Remove the buttons. You're not serving...' was said more than once to surplus gear wearers who had left on Service buttons, or (even worse) NCO stripes or officers' pips on the epaulettes.

Single items such as a kilt which has had regimental or rank-specific detailing removed is not going to greatly offend anyone - as long as you avoid the 'cosplay' dressing-up look. Army kilts are well-made and durable, and can serve civilian duty well if other military items are left off. The plain leather HB-style sporran might be the tollerated exception.

You are fooling no-one (not even yourself) if you dress up in some kind of military parody, and declare it is 'to honour' the old soldiers. Much better to make a donation to an exserviceman's benevolent fund, than to misappropriate his glory.

Any mixing and matching of military items to make them look 'uniform' will only win you scorn, so the less, the better.