Wartime issue battledress blouse

[ynot]

Hello,

I’m thinking of getting a BD blouse however, I collect Great War items and am going to be out of my depth when/if I do see one for sale so, I’d like to ask if there are any dealers who may have a supply of good ones and also what I should expect to pay. I’m not in the UK but will probably visit in the next 4 to 10 months as I suspect that’s probably the best place to find one.

As I’m armed with a 10 year old copy of the Armourer magazine which has an article about the battledress blouse I’m hoping I shall be ok, but any easy to remember tips regarding postwar patterns easily adapted to resemble wartime issue blouses will be most welcome.

A decent early to mid-war example to a Pte. in good but used condition is what I’m after, with or without badges. I prefer things to have been used rather than been in storage since new.

Thanks
Tony

[ynot]

Just bumping this back up in the hope someone here can help me out and steer me away from fakes.

Tony

[NCA]

I'm guessing you're after a British BD?War time ones are fairly easy to spot if you know what to look for...Early 'battledress serge' has covered buttons and pocket with pleats, the collar will have two hooks to do it up.

40 pattern the buttons are exposed have plain pockets and an unlined collar.

Just a few pointers without writing an essay on them!Things to steer clear of are Greek bd which are fairly similar but the serge is much 'greener'...theres also Canadian and Australian ect..ect...

A good price would be around £60-80 but I've seen them go for all sorts of prices.Theres a couple of nice ones on worldwarwonders...Good dealer with fair prices.I hope this helps?!

[NCA]

Heres one of mine...it predates the 40 pattern but then there are some that say this *is* the 40 pattern...the simplified version being called the austerity pattern...I've seen labels with both descriptions on just to confuse matters!

[NCA]

Postwar patterns are very difficult to convert...it would require a very competent tailor and you would still be able to see the conversions.Thats probably why you don't see any.

[ynot]

Thanks very much for the reply.

I've seen one which isn't dated, the label is present but no date was putting me off a little however, if they're difficult to convert it might be worth going for.

60 - 80 GBP sounds ok, I'll check out worldwarwonders later to see what they have.

Thanks
Tony