Sam Stewart uniform. Fake?

[shinsakuto]

I have been told awhile back by Greenlit the maker of Foyle's War that Sam Stewart's MTC uniform is a replica made by Angels the costumier. Some still believe the uniform is genuine, fair enough if they think it is.
The tunic has GS buttons but as far as I know does not fit into any particular ATS or MTC patterns. The closest match are the pre or early war FANY however the buttons is on the male side like that from the ATS. The curious mix may also indicate the work of studio replicator lax on getting something correct.
I found this photo on flickr, the seams on the collars doesnt look flush something you would expect from a replicator or TV prop. What is quite surprising is the MTTC badges appears to be too thin around the edges probably a fake. Did they cast these because surely they could have found a set of three?

All sizes | foyles war | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Adrian Stevenson]

I think all of it is film prop.

Cheers, Ade.

[shinsakuto]

Ade, I thought so too. I was taken back by another collector who claim to have seen the uniform up close and said it was a genuine ATS tunic. Even with GS buttons it does not look ATS to me. There were FANY tunic probably late war pattern that buttons on the male side which looks like Sam's tunic but the two brass belt guards on the waist of Sam's tunic points to early pattern. Also another theory is the prop people butchered an original uniform to suite their taste. The Sam Brown belt is real though

[davejb]

Angels as its now known have their own reconstruction dept where they make or adapt costumes of all periods, as everything is in-house, its cheaper for them to replicate badges etc, ive been there many times for costume fitting for TV and film work, some of the uniforms, mainly British BDs are the real deal, the hat dept mainly construct pieces for whatever production is ongoing, their reference library im told is vast as is the premises, but i believe they will buy in certain items ie helmets of all types, they sometimes have a clear out and sell excess stock at War and Peace and other venues. What you need to realise is that its not always the fault of the costumers re mistakes made, every production has its own wardrobe dept, they tell Angels what they want and its supplied sometimes with out insignia, that can be left up to the productions wardrobe to deal with, i remember one particular filming day when i was in the canteen and another production company were making a semi documentary of the failed Wolfs lair bombing, Hitler was sitting two tables away from me in a tattered uniform with blood over his arm and face, they hadnt started yet but as i was leaving i noticed that all the SS officers had the arm eagles on the wrong side, i walked over to the wardrobe mistress who i knew from another production and told her, she said i was wrong because they were working from period photos, when she showed me her reference sheets ,sure enough, all the eagles were on the right sleeve,i then told her the photos had been reversed, ive never seen someone move so fast, she knew that i collected and took my word for it, after lunch she came and found me, thanked me and had resewn all the insignias, including tabs, repositioned awards etc, she had eight people working on it so filming wasnt delayed, never even got a credit for it, still thats show business

[shinsakuto]

Interesting insight into Angels, davejb. Everybody is afraid of losing their job so unlikely to give others the credit. What would have happen if you said nothing, the documentary becomes a laughing stock and she be out of a job but they might look for you to handle the wardrobe for future productions.

With Foyles' War Greenlit said they researched Sam's uniform with co-operation from the IWM. Whatever happen they failed to get the uniform correct even if it is a repro.