Uniform help required

Hi all,

My other half is a cadet officer badged RA, she's taking part in Rememberence Sunday in france this year and needs full no.2 dress, we have the tunic and skirt but we need the following,

Female Officers Peak Cap
Brown Gloves
Royal Artillery No.2 Dress Buttons
Cross Belt
Shoulder Titles
Collar Dogs

Not asking for these buckshee, but if anyone knows the NSN so we can indent for them, or knows a decent PRI/Tailors so we can buy them it would be appreciated.

 

www.cadetkitshop.com

This sites great for the little bits and bobs, just takes a while to find them. Send the guys an email or ring them and they will be more than helpful.

 

cheers jimmy, but checked there first, they've got a load of rifles stuff but no Female Officers RA stuff

 

Mrs Stilts got her No2's from Cadet direct, but not sure if the do female SD's if your misses is a commissioned officer then they will be harder to get hold of.

Cadet Direct

Stilts

 

try contacting your local ta gunner regt/battery or the nearest gunner regt,i know that we help out our cadet unitwith kit

 

Question

Does she have an SD tunic or a No2 Tunic ? They are different and if she is an officer then she needs to wear Service Dress, she would look stupid in the wrong dress and I will guarantee someone will notice

The best place I know of is the YOs wing at Larkhill, they stock quite a full range of second hand SD and mess kit

 

Couldn't agree more, she will be able to buy at an excellent price the kit she needs off the shelf, it is what the YO's branch is for.

 

And you can always ask the Adjt there for advice.

msr

 

Also she should talk to her cadet county QM as they normally have good links to local Base QMs and Outlets for service uniforms...

 

You'd get away with an ORs cap. They appear pretty regularly on ebay (especially in the shops). Officers' ones are like Rocking Horse Poo.

She's entitled to have gloves issued through the system. Tell her to ask her CAA.

Buttons again appear pretty regularly on ebay. However, I do have some of the large size (for down the front) spare so if you PM me, I'll let you have some.

The Cross Belt will be exactly the same as the blokes pattern. YOs Branch is best for this - all you need is a chest measurement.

Shoulder titles will have to come from CadetKitShop or Cadet Direct. Did you know that RA Titles aren't worn on SD - but she will need ACF ones. Also - ACF Titles are an issue item (entitled to two pairs I think)

Collar Dogs can be had from Ebay or YOs Branch - remember it's the Bronze version you want.

 

Gieves and Hawkes will always help out, at an imaginative price.

 

Again, it depends what rank she is, but most stuff is available from the YOs shop (next to YOs branch, Larkhill, see the YOs Chief Clerk for the key and prices), if she is an Officer.

I have buttons too - but as one other ARRSER will testify, I have no memory and will forget to send stuff!

 

If a cadet officer can "get away" with wearing an ORs cap, does that mean I can "get away" with not saluting them ?

Also by the sounds of it they are trying to get away with wearing SDs as well, see previous post, forgive the pun but if the cap fits....

Being an officer entails all that goes with it, she wants to be one and wear the kit then get the cheque book out.

 

I am a "proper" officer and I wouldn't think twice about trying to source my kit from other areas than from tailors.

Why?

Because the tailors charge one frik of a lot for something that I can get elsewhere - either from service leaving friends, or the YOs shop. It is still tailor made kit, I wouldn't buy stuff that didn't fit (and nobody's unfiorm retains made-to-measure form after a few years - people generally change shape).

My personal experience - ripped off by Goldings when at Sandhurst:

"of course Sir, there is ample material sewn into the jacket to allow later alterations",
followed by
"no sir, we never leave any extra - you need a new jacket"
and this was from Sandhurst to a point less than a year later, after I had beasted myself in prep for AACC and my shoulders got broader (admittedly following injury on said course I may have added to my girth in other areas - hence needing bigger kit).

so, I initially bought from YOs shop. I then got an even better set of SD from my mucker who left and I had it tailored to me. Hard choice it was too - £50 and a beer or £600 for a tailor?

I did however dip into my pocket for a blues jacket to get married in. No bugger was my size to buy one from and I considered it a useful purchase. Went to a different and (IMHO) better tailor - service was outstanding.

So to imply that the Cadet Officer (presumably and ACF officer, not an Officer Cadet spelt wrong?) in question is crap by not wanting to spend £600 plus on SD and trimmings seems a little harsh.

Or am I just a pikey? If so then I am along with nearly every officer I know who has done similar things to augment their uniform throughout the years...

 

No not a Pikey and I don't blame any YO in trying to source kit cheaper, if you read up the page I'm the one who suggested the YOs branch

My point is, if you read between the lines,is that a commissioned officer, be they Reg, TA or ACF, should wear the correct uniform, it doesn't matter a jot where it came from or how it was bastardized, what is wrong however it states she has No2s not service dress and it has been suggested she could get away with a No2 dress hat as well. To me that's pants, what next ? Can't afford a cloth cap-badge so lets wear a stay bright one instead, it won't matter, perhaps ?

I might be being pedantic to some but if you spend some time on the ACF board on one of the many "should I salute ACF officers ?" thread you will see the claim they are officers and thus should. SDs/No2s/mess dress etc are added extras for ACF members, they source it out their own pocket for reasons of their own, I'm not knocking that but if you are going to do it, do it correctly or wear the uniform you are issued with in the first place.