Gabardine Gymnastiorka?

[Eddie]

Hi guys, I picked this up today out of curiosity, is it postwar or a reenactor piece? I picked it up because I liked the fabric and the buttons(one of which does not match, and is shown in one of the photos, though they are all very much silver colored, made of tin or something?). The chest buttons are replacements as well, I wondered if the shirt itself was any good though. I'm not sure what photos you guys would need to determine this, and sorry that they aren't daylight photos.

Thanks for looking fellas!
Eddie

[Eddie]

It has been suggested to me that this is a "Model 1935 Gymnastiorka for a Jr. Lt. of the Medical branch" for a female. I've found an interested party that would like to buy this, but I'm out of my depth in this area, and google only finds me reproduction items. Can anyone steer me towards a website that sell authentic pieces so I can get a realistic idea of what to ask for this?
Thanks,
Eddie

[robin morley]

Hi Eddie,

These are not the commonest items and I can not really help you as to whether it is War time post war or reproduction. To me the buttons look poorly cast which would be an area of concern to me, The original ones I have seen are of very good quality. As for looking at a dealers site to compare I can recommend Espenlaub militaria which has a selection. There is a link from this web site as they are a sponsor.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Eddie, sorry I am late on this: had my Grandson over for the week and it has been very busy (wargaming).

It is a modern repro, nicely done, but not period materials.

Cheers, Ade.

[Eddie]

Thanks Robin and Ade, I really had no idea about this as it is not my collecting area, thank you for the help. Ade, no worries, family should always come first in this hobby, and I appreciate you chiming in.

[bourguignotte]

Hello,

Ade, could you please explain why the material are not good and what makes you say it is modern repro?

The button do no look nice but the other item and the construction of the Gym looks very nice. It's kind of frightening

In advance thank you for your help in preventing any purshase of such well done fake item

Best regards

Bruno

[Dimas]

Ade, i have seen a couple of pre - var made gimnasterkas, exact as this material, but this material is typical for early postwar issue. I personally do not like this gimnasterka, as I think it's a theater issue, or a custom postwar fashioned item. The tabs are 100% postwar addition, it's not hard to recognize the originally stitched insignia to the Soviet stuff, normally due of it's strongly worn condition

[Eddie]

While anticipating a reply here I also posted a thread on this Gym on another forum, where it was sold to a dealer. It arrived today, and the buyer agrees with Ade's assessment about the fabric being post war, but he believes that the insignia is period. I have refunded him satisfactorily for both parties. I visit a lot of thrift/resale stores in Brooklyn, all with different owners, and have found a number of reproduction/re enactor items, which I suppose isn't that strange for such a large city, but it is kinda weird. The German Zeltbahn jacket that I found this summer was in a different shop that doesn't buy from the public, so maybe all the shops got some portion of a re enactor's kit somewhat recently? While checking it out in the store I actually had a fun conversation with an older Australian woman who had done costume department work in London in the 60's and she looked it over with me and we tried to break down the pros and cons of the piece, but my knowledge of Soviet items is next to nil, and she didn't know a lot about militaria. We ended up being somewhat suspicious of it(she thought the handsewn button holes were a good sign, but the machine stitching not), but I thought it might be worth buying on the off chance that it was even partially legitimate, and it seems that at least the insignia was real. Thanks to everyone for taking a look and commenting.