UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories German Military Uniform Forum Cost of Uniform Items

I know that German officers were responsible for buying their own clothing items (with at least some of the cost defrayed by an allowance). Can anyone tell me how much the various tunics, trousers, belts, caps, etc., might cost an officer then and in today's dollars? It just seems that some of the nicest dress uniforms with brocade belts and daggers or swords could be rather expensive.

Was the uniform allowance given on an annual or some other periodic basis and would it have been proportional to rank? Does anyone know the actual amounts that were allotted?

Thanks for any info that can be shared.

I do have this information, but it is packed away, as I recently moved house. If no one else gets back to you, when I find the detail, but it may take a while.

Best way to compare costs I can think of, is to compare cost of items to the officer's salary. I will give you that as well.

From memory, officers were issued very little, apart from special purpose clothing (like reversible and non-reversible winter uniforms, tank uniforms,etc) and instead were given a sizable allowance for purchase and maintenance.

The items were not cheap, but it was a huge industry, manufacturing for a large client base. This provides economies of scale. I suspect buying suits nowadays is probably as expensive as uniforms were then.

You could spend enormous amounts, for a purely tailor made piece, using the best fabrics materials, and insignia, or buy 'off the rack' and just make minor alterations to suit, using cheaper insignia to save money.

One reason why junior officers' tunics generally look poor quality, when sat beside senior officers' ones.

The allowance was annual, with a larger amount for inital purchase, and a smaller maintenance amount. On landmark promotion (to Major and Major-General), I believe they got an additional sum, as re-tailoring was required for existing pieces.

Dress uniforms were discontinued at the outbreak of war, with the tailoring of such items prohibited, and so the number of officers actually purchasing these items is not enormous (given the limitations on army size imposed at Versailles). These, and their acutrements, were the most expensive items. I believe the allowance was lowered after this occurred (but I am not positive of this).

Hope this helps. It may take me a couple of weeks to find the material you want.

David!

Dave, thanks very much for replying. The info you shared is really interesting and I look forward to hearing more. Thanks for taking the time to create such an informative post.