Trousets for Ausgang/Stabsdienstuniform

[iannima]

My esteemed Genosse Viktor will tell you that it is no accident that I have never talked before about the straight trousers to be worn with laced up shoes, as my all-consuming passion are the Stiefelhose and the boots ... and there is admittedly an element of truth in that...
However, it is also to be said that I had never found a pair of these trousers that I actually liked, and I am VERY fussy about the shape of trousers .
Here I am mainly talking about the piped trousers for officers. Most of these are to be found in the shape of the Grenzer pair here on the right:

They have the characteristic of the total width not diminishing by much from the knee to the bottom hem, which is a massive 26 cm. wide. The optical effect is analogous to flares... and YUK! is my synthetic comment... I will not go as far as to say that those constitute a crime against humanity, as I reserve that charge for the current deplorable low waisted garbage...... but nonetheless, flaring trousers belong to the category of the irredeemable, as far as I am concerned, and I am deeply distressed that the NVA flirted with these ...

[iannima]

The "flares" seem to start from the mid 1970s and keep being produced down to the very end, which means that there are tons and tons of these ghastly things around .
Earlier trousers were mercifully more tapered, but they are rather rare to find. There is an example on the left, dated M =1970 which I got together with a dark collar tunic some time ago. Unfortunately not my size as it is an M52-1 . It has the dual attachment for both the old and the new braces.

[iannima]

So, on the whole I have never had much luck on the trousers... until yesterday evening that is ...
Yesterday I paid my usual quarterly visit to Alistair's (=Sfrankish on Ebay) and browsing through a pile of ordinary "flared" ones, I spotted an odd pair... They are here on the right, alongside the 1970 pair.



There are many differences as you can see..

1. The pockets are diagonal as in EM trousers, and not cut as a slit in the front panel, as in all other Gabardine trousers and Stiefelhose;
2. the side adjusters are external rather than the usual internal ones;
3. the side piping does not go all the way to the waistband and it is quite obvious that this was deliberate and not an accident;
4. Inside (pic below) there are NO markings whatsoever relating to size, date or name of the officer.
5. Equally absent are any means to attach braces.

[iannima]

To my immense delight, the leg is pronouncedly tapered and quite a bit narrower at the bottom hem, than the 1970 equivalent.



I would say a touch short of 20 cm.
The visual effect is much more elegant in my view. I somehow associate this style of tapered trousers with the suits worn by James Bond when it was still the Sean Connery of old.
All things considered, I would say that these trousers must be a private purchase for an officer of excellent taste , who had them made by a tailor, at a guess sometime in the 1960s. The evidence of wear is rather minimal however.

[iannima]

And here they are deployed "in anger" ...


there is a shading difference but it is here exaggerated beyond proportions by the flash
I like them!

P.S.
Viktor please note the well worn genuine NVA footwear, which hasn't exploded yet...

[David H]

Matteo, nice trousers and you are bang on the nail with your view, private purchase from the 1960's. I would hazzard a guess to say they were originally purchased to go with a double breasted jacket.

Good score

[ehrentitle]

It must be the Luddite in me, but I was immediately drawn to all of the stacks of books rather than the uniform in question. It's always conforting to see a fellow Bibliophile in this age of instant communications.

[iannima]

It must be the Luddite in me, but I was immediately drawn to all of the stacks of books rather than the uniform in question. It's always conforting to see a fellow Bibliophile in this age of instant communications.

I am an academic after all ... the biggest stack is made up of an Italian/English dictionary, a vast number of books on the history of economic thought and two full years (1967 and 1969) of bound Armeerundschau.

[iannima]

Matteo, nice trousers and you are bang on the nail with your view,

Thank you for your confirmation, David! Alistair said that you are in touch with him. It is rather amusing that I am closer than you are to this hunting ground... . By the way, he had some early 1960s Artillery shoulder boards, the heavy Filz broader ones if anybody is interested.

[ehrentitle]

I am an academic after all ... the biggest stack is made up of an Italian/English dictionary, a vast number of books on the history of economic thought and two full years (1967 and 1969) of bound Armeerundschau.

I've got stacks of Armeerundschau's as well, most everthing from the 1986-90 period, with a few scattered from the 60s and 70s.

I read an article last week that iPhone users have a personal relationship with their phones, they treat it like a family member or a close personal friend. I've accumulated thousands of books over the years. Mostly on military or militaria related topics. I'm at the point now that I've run out of shelf space and have to be selective about what I buy. I know I need to start getting rid of some of the books I've not read in decades, but the thought of thinning them out prompts that same feeling, like loosing a good friend. I don't have that same feeling about newspapers and magazines and have no problems getting rid of those.

[Viktor]

Genossen,
And I never thought to see our Genosse iannima in long trousers....

[torstenbel]

Matteo, I never thought the trousers were that bad taste really .. well, not at the time anyhow .. but I am glad that you have found a pair to your liking. Cheers, Torsten.

[Kartofelpreußer]

Genossen,
And I never thought to see our Genosse iannima in long trousers....

Genosse Viktor,

Clearly Genosse Matteo has so taken you by surprise with his deployment of long trousers that you have missed the crimes against socialism that he has committed in so doing:

"But nonetheless, flaring trousers belong to the category of the irredeemable..."

"The "flares" seem to start from the mid 1970s... there are tons and tons of these ghastly things around."

"The visual effect is much more elegant in my view. I somehow associate this style of tapered trousers with the suits worn by James Bond when it was still the Sean Connery of old."

That someone should disparage the progressive, populist cut of NVA trousers from the 1970's and 80's, belittling the extensive research that was put into maximizing style while not descending into Western bell-bottomed decadence, is an abomination. Worse, he takes his comments one step further and praises the elitist tailoring of capitalist Britain. Does he indeed think that the uniforms of the National People's Army should be "elegant"? Is this the ex-Nazi Bundeswehr or an army that exists to peacefully protect the power of the workers and peasants? Worse yet, he singles out the style of the famous fictional agent-provocateur James Bond, an enemy of socialist progress if ever there was one and an embodiment of the aggressive anti-peace imperialism of the West.

Rest assured, the Ministerium für Volksbekleidungsmodeströmungssicherheit has already been notified, in the required triplicate, with copies forwarded to Moscow Centre.

When, Genosse Viktor, will the duty cars roll?

[RedCatcher1986]

I've got stacks of Armeerundschau's as well, most everthing from the 1986-90 period, with a few scattered from the 60s and 70s.

I read an article last week that iPhone users have a personal relationship with their phones, they treat it like a family member or a close personal friend. I've accumulated thousands of books over the years. Mostly on military or militaria related topics. I'm at the point now that I've run out of shelf space and have to be selective about what I buy. I know I need to start getting rid of some of the books I've not read in decades, but the thought of thinning them out prompts that same feeling, like loosing a good friend. I don't have that same feeling about newspapers and magazines and have no problems getting rid of those.

If youre willing to part with some of your military reading Im always up for acquiring some new used interesting military reading material for I too am a bookworm

[Gene T]

The youth wing of our collective would have to confirm this, but I believe Genosse Iannima's sartorial taste is so anachronistic that it's on the bleeding edge of fashion again: http://us.levi.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=11360365

Note the progressive taper towards near-jodhpur-like proportions as one scrolls down the page; something that should breathe new life into Genosse Iannima's waning faith in mankind's ability to appreciate smart elegance. The rise on these may still be a tad low to meet his professorial standards, but surely this is encouraging evidence that the pendulum is in full swing towards the right side of taste?



Gene T