German military army surplus jacket craze of the late 80's

Cee-Jay-Cee

I had a few of them back in the 80's. They were the best coat ever, warm as toast in winter and then when you removed the fleece lining they could be wore all through our wet summers too. I had 2 green ones and a black one. I think one of my old ones is still hanging in a wardrobe in my mums house.

dipti

Army jackets are my favorite although don't have any of those jackets with german flags but still bought a jacket from military surplus and that is really cool.

bodice ripper

Still have mine from when i was fourteen, complete with dragon and old english lettering i drew on the back.

conorhal

donegal_road wrote: »

does anyone remember the ex army jackets that every second teen wore circa 1985 - 1990? Most of them had the German flag on the sleeve. I always wondered why were they German army surplus jackets, and how they became so popular.

On the same subject of fashion trends of the 80's, Im sure everyone remembers the large black and white cheque patterned Palestinian scarves that were hugely popular at the same time.. always wondered why.

What else would one wear to complement ones 14 hole Oxblood Doc Martin boots except army surplus?



Serious answer, was it not a fashion influenced by punk? A lot of subculture fashon statements get apropriated into more mainstream fashion.

Egginacup

donegal_road wrote: »

does anyone remember the ex army jackets that every second teen wore circa 1985 - 1990? Most of them had the German flag on the sleeve. I always wondered why were they German army surplus jackets, and how they became so popular.

On the same subject of fashion trends of the 80's, Im sure everyone remembers the large black and white cheque patterned Palestinian scarves that were hugely popular at the same time.. always wondered why.

Yeah the German parkas were quite popular, I had a fishtail parka though complete with fur-lined hood, sta-prest drain-pipes and badger shoes....mod-extraodinaire.

The keffiyehs were popular with the gang who were into Rush and Deep Purple.

Cen taurus

There was always a large and plentiful supply of cold war surplus about then.
I still remember that mouldy smell they all had. Kept an entire generation of Irish kids warm during the winters, in the days that kids had to walk to school and use buses. If you were uber cool, you'd have the rare one that along with the west german flag, had the small eagle motif above it for para.

corner of hells

Egginacup wrote: »

Yeah the German parkas were quite popular, I had a fishtail parka though complete with fur-lined hood, sta-prest drain-pipes and badger shoes....mod-extraodinaire.

The keffiyehs were popular with the gang who were into Rush and Deep Purple.

I still have a fish tail parka ... I'm told if you can get one they're worth about 150euros.

Korvanica

Still have min from when i was 15. Still fits me too. I wear it at nighttime at festivals. SO warm.

the evasion_kid

Had three of them, with punk\hardcore band names tip-exed all over them.all three were confiscated by the school principal.

Pinch Flat

yeah I had one as well - great jackets. Got me though the worst of the winters of the late 80's and early 90's. Had a Dutch jacket as well - blue but was waterproof.

They're still available today online - very reasonable and now some have goretex and other fancy materials that make them very good for winter wear.

donegaLroad

I just wonder was the parkas with the German flag popular in the UK?

Renegade Mechanic

I had one, wore it into primary school one day and got the head pucked off me for it. Purely because it had a German flag on it :rolleyes:

Gyalist

donegaLroad wrote: »

I just wonder was the parkas with the German flag popular in the UK?

They were popular with anglers and other outdoorsy types. i don't remember them crossing over into youth fashion in the way they did in Ireland.

Pumpkinseeds

I had one in the 80's, and Doc Martens. Ah, simpler times.:D

Boskowski

This one?

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/129977/343087.JPG

Sunnyisland

Boskowski wrote: »

This one?

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/129977/343087.JPG

What's that ?


Op if he still alive was asking about combat jackets, big some knee length green jackets , great for keeping out the cold and plenty of pockets for essential items like naggens of vodka , If you wore with jeans and black docs or black shoes you were a ra member :-)

Uncle Ben

realies wrote: »

What's that ?


Op if he still alive was asking about combat jackets, big some knee length green jackets , great for keeping out the cold and plenty of pockets for essential items like naggens of vodka , If you wore with jeans and black docs or black shoes you were a ra member :-)

I used to get mine in the Dandelion Market. The US and German jackets were sound but the good ones I found were the ones sold by the troops when they came back from the Lebanon. They were grand until the army started printing the big FF on the pockets or the collar.

I was in the FCA during that time and on manoeuvres it was funny watching all the different styles and countries on parade.

Boskowski

realies wrote: »

What's that ?


Op if he still alive was asking about combat jackets, big some knee length green jackets , great for keeping out the cold and plenty of pockets for essential items like naggens of vodka , If you wore with jeans and black docs or black shoes you were a ra member :-)

It's that Arafat scarf that also got a mention in the op.

Joziburg

Where do you get these jackets, been looking for years!??

Brinimartini

They were all the rage in the 60's and 70's as well.

SEPT 23 1989

Joziburg wrote: »

Where do you get these jackets, been looking for years!??

Army Bargains

Joziburg

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Army Bargains

?

ArielAtom

The Tanksuit was excellent when working od sites back then, never felt the cold:)

Mesrine65

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Army Bargains

Joziburg wrote: »

?

http://armybargains.com/

wuzziwig

A parka, a PLO scarf, ox blood docs and a mullet was our uniform of choice way back then. A colleague of mine saw a photo of me when I was 16 in my regalia and she said "Your brother hasn't changed a bit". I do admit I could have been any sex in the photo!!

Your Superior

Gyalist wrote: »

They were popular with anglers and other outdoorsy types. i don't remember them crossing over into youth fashion in the way they did in Ireland.

Every angry/I'm a rebel teenager in the UK had them from the late 70s through to the 90s. Affleck's Palace in Manchester was like a German Army base at one point...

Joziburg

Mesrine65 wrote: »

http://armybargains.com/

Thanks thought you meant a bargain alerts forum specificly for army wear

Ruu

My older brother had one.

Myself and the younger brother had these. Zipped up as far as they would go.

kowloon

I think it might have been conscription in the German Army that saw so many of them. The re-unification of Germany also might have released a lot of German surplus onto the market, although that was later than the eighties.

Gyalist

kowloon wrote: »

I think it might have been conscription in the German Army that saw so many of them. The re-unification of Germany also might have released a lot of German surplus onto the market, although that was later than the eighties.

You're correct about the first, incorrect about the second.

At the time I owned a vintage clothing store and did a lot of business in Germany. After the wall fell, it became uneconomical to continue to do business there as all the clothing that was normally available to vintage and military surplus traders immediately started going east, mainly to the former East Germany and Poland. The German dealers preferred this as they were able to sell everything in bulk at higher prices while we only wanted to cherry-pick the specialist Grade A stuff.