SOLDIERS' DRESS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 42, 21 January 1944, Page 6

SOLDIERS' DRESS

MODERN VARIATIONS

UNIFORMS IN NEW ZEALAND

Fashions and habits in dress which would drive the traditional old-time sergeant-major into a state of apoplexy, clearly distinguish the servicemen of to-day from the more formally attired lighting man of the last war. [ In the name, of comfort, I)}' forceof circumstance or through a spirit of sheer independence the present serviceman, whether in the lighting area, in training camp or on leave, has afl'ccted sartoriali styles that would not have been tolerated a generation ago. Some, of the styles have had official instigation and approval; others merely represent unofficial custom. About the uniform of the NewZealand serviceman to-day the most notable feature is the lack of uniformity. As seen in the city, a solr dier may be attired in any one of a scries of dresses, each series differing in itself according to the individual whim of the wearer. Just as lie may appear in battledress,, light, drill or shorts, so may he have! the collar of his battledress open or fastened, lie may wear black or tan shoes, or he may have a peaked felt hat or a field service cap on his head. The variations arc legion. Air Force and Navy Members of the Air Force subscribe to a diversity of styles almost equal to that of the Army 4 Even the Navy, so conservative in questions of etiquette and dress;, allows for some variation. What is more striking than the summer ensemble of the white shirt,, shorts, socks and shoes that has been seen occasionally in the 1 city recently ?• Such liberality in the choice of clothes and the manner of wearing was unknown in the last war, even if it is not wholly invested with official sanction in this. Anyone above the rank of an acting lance corporal would: probably have been aghast at the spectacle of a soldier sporting a green shirt and striped tie beneath his unbuttoned tunic. Pioneer officers in the Air Force may "have been a little horrified to sec. men of their unit strolling city streets in short pants and flimsy singlets. What the Navy would have said about such deportment is a matter entirely for the Silent Service. The Old "Spit and' Polish" Those who preachcd the law of "spit and polish" sincerely believed in the virtues; of creed. They saw it as a means of the end of better discipline and greater individual well-being and health. Too often, however, it' was made an end in itself. Whether better soldiers were produced than under the less rigid conditions of to-day may be answered by saj-ing that the soldier of this war is ju.st as. good as his father was, although lie may be. no better. From the modern Serviceman's comparative informality of dress and deportment merges the question as to what extent lie will carry his new habits back with him into civilian life. Of especial interest are those habits which have, been adopted purely in the interests of comfort. Will the soldier set new and enlightened styles in masculine attire, for instance 2 Many under the spell of convention,, perspiring in heavy coats and choked by collars and ties, would like to think so. But precedent suggests otherwise. Men of the older generation vowed they would never wear collars again after they went into khaki during the last Avar. But it was to the stiff, -starched collars thai they immediately returned 'when the Array re leased them. Convention demanded it. Only with the passage of years and a change in fashions were they gradually induced to adopt the soft or semistill' type of collar.