SA jacket

[Erich B.]

I agree--the Litzen looks 100% good to me. The yellow piping is throwing me off--I can't find any reason for yellow piping with red 'enlisted' tabs and silver buttons with silver /red Litzen. If it was my tunic, I'd leave everything as is, though. I don't like changing anything unless it's to correct something obviously done postwar. That's a personal decision, of course; other collectors may feel differently about that.
Erich

[sgstandard]

Tabs

Yes - I believe the collar tabs are original......
The yellow piping may be original, but there are no SA regulations to explain why it's there.....
REMEMBER - There is only ONE reason that the SA enlisted men wore tab piping after 1940/41........
It was to identify the original button-color of that particular SA unit.....but SA-Staff NEVER wore gold buttons! Only the SA Chief-of-Staff wore gold.
Sometimes, you find SA configurations that defy explanation, but yet they appear to be original. The problem is deciding if that is the case, or did someone monkey around with it post-war. This is REALLY common on SA uniforms you find, because the post-war assemblers often don't understand the complex regulations.
Unfortunately, even if the collar tabs ARE original to the tunic, they would ALWAYS be questioned.
BOTTOM LINE:
Tabs........IMO, original.
Piping......."possibly" original, but non-regulation.
Litze.........one WAF expert says "original"....no other comments. Personally, I think the litze seems odd for a post 1940 tab...I'd expect the regulation silk-type litze.
Pip...........Correct silver color.......could be original to tab, could be added.
NOTE: The owner bought a nice regulation set of post-1940 tabs for this tunic, and IMO, that was the best option.....even if the red tabs are original, they may have been added, and since they'll always be questioned, the TUNIC would always be questioned. We'll look forward to seeing this nice tunic completed.

[squidney86]

The piping still throws me off. To me, the piping resembles that which is on Panzer tabs. I have never seen an SA tab with this style piping.
Sydney

[sgstandard]

Tunic

"Panzer tabs"...............I agree....I thought that style of piping looked familiar.......
I struggled a lot over this uniform, as I would hate to give bad advice. It IS a tough call - if he changed the tabs, he might be ruining a rare configuration, but if he leaves them, the tunic will always have questions........
A possible indication of that will be when they appear on E-stand....

[squidney86]

Well it is SA and with this organization, nothing besides true fakes can be thrown to the wayside. Its what makes collecting it so frustrating/fun.