White SS Allgemeine Dress uniform

[PMan]

Armband

From a distance, the armband looks as though it may be good as well.
Peter

[Hawesj]

tunic

I know the seller quite well and he has indicated that stripped tunic came from collectors guild a few years ago.

He has added the insignia, so I know most of it should be original.

As to the layout, it conforms to the examples in the beaver waffen ss series, although it can be reconfigured, if original, very easily.

Robert, comments on the tunic itself?

Thanks, Jim

[DonC]

Jim, from the pics the tunic itself looks good, but I wonder if in applying the second board they have left some indelible signs it was there, which would affect value, IMO. Also, I believe the board shoudl be sewn in, which may be a blessign if the tunic is indeed original as you wouldn't have to sew up the hole from a sewn-in board if you restore it to specs - althoughthe SB button would probably be another matter. As for the insignia, that's not my bag and I cannot comment intelligently on those, so I won't.

Don

[Robin Lumsden]

These white tunics are very difficult.

I recently examined one in hand that looked original. It turned out to be a fake.

Old adage...................if in doubt, don't.

[Peppe864]

I would personally stay far away from this one.......................

If you desperatly want one, you can do it yourself, and do it correct with original parts..........................

[Arran]

Hi All,
Its me who has offered the tunic to Jim, so I thought I'd give a little background. I wound up with the tunic a year or so ago in a trade from the collector who bought it directly from the Collector's Guild. At the time it had no insignia. Its constructed of a nice lightweight ribbed cotton material which has that suppleness fabric gets from being worn and washed many times. Those of you who are familiar with the white Army, Navy, and Luft tunics will know what I mean (its exactly the same fabric as often seen with these). The buttons and shoulder boards were made to be removable, with the shoulder board loops being a thicker, heavier version of the uniquely knotted loops we see on pockets for badges.
Anyway, Jim was not interested in the tunic without insignia, so I sought out insignia that would appeal to his preference for Allgemeine over Waffen SS uniforms. After examining all the pics I could find (both contemporary and of surviving examples), it became clear that all manner of insignia combinations were used- one shoulder board, two boards, armband, sleeve eagle etc. etc. I chose Karl Wolff's white tunic, pictured on pgs 560-563 of Vol. 2 of Beaver's excellent "Uniforms of the Waffen SS", to serve as the example for this one. Armband with provision for 2 Allgemeine style shoulder boards. The Armband, which has a nice "D" RZM tag, I bought here on the e-stand. The collar tabs, with a "C" tag, came from a dealer in the States. Boy, was it hard to find a matched pair of Allg. slip on boards, but I eventually got them from a collector in Australia. Unfortunately, all my efforts only added up to a piece of "junk"...
So now I think Jim (who collects by consensus) is going to pass on this tunic and wait for another affordable SS white tunic to become available. Peppe, perhaps you have one you could sell Jim for the price of a stripped EM's black tunic (which is what I was asking for this one)?

Cheers,
Arran.

[Peppe864]

Arran, I believe the tunic is fine, but as you stated it is put together..........if a the collector knows that it is put together, then it is fine............
It might be hard to find a white one that is complete and untouched................

I personally prefer to own untouched tunics BUT if there is no way of getting what I want I would consider putting it together myself with the help of a taylor...........

You have done a job with the gathering the insignia and doing the job, so for a collector who just wants a tunic ready in his collection, this is the one.............

The important thing is to mention that it is put together, if that is done then eveything is

So if the price is right, which it seems to be, everybody should be happy!!! =) =) =)

[inimicus]

a fine thing to find honesty and a willingness to "save the situation," esp. amid disappointment.... thanks for this thread and its temperate tone.