US Navy & US Marine Corp Boat Cloaks, and US Army Capes

[Doctor Damage]

US Army cape dated 1938 for Lt Col CW Lewis. The lining is red so artillery or air defense.

 

[Doctor Damage]

For some reason I had forgotten to post this image, which is from an old book or handbook on US military uniforms of the WW2 era. Note the US Army cape at bottom left.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Here's an old USMC cloak dated from the 1930s and apparently made for Lt Henry William Buse Jr.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Just spotted this on Reddit, the user didn't know what it was but they did note it was dated 1963. It's a US Army cape, of course, probably infantry.

 

[Doctor Damage]

From the USMC photo archives: "Sgt. Maj. Micheal P. Barrett, the 17th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, attends the Staff Non-commissioned Officer’s Academy Quantico Career Course 1-15 Mess Night at the Clubs at Quantico, Va., Dec. 3, 2014. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Marionne T. Mangrum)."

 

[Doctor Damage]

USN boat cloak, dated 1924.

 

[coastie_classics]

So I was finally able to get into a sewing class and accomplished this very rough draft. Funny looking, I know, but didn’t want to waste good fabric so this one was all made from clearance scrap. It’s built off a commercial pattern (vogue 8959) so it’s fitted as opposed to a 3/4 circle. When laid out on the ground, it is about a 1/2 circle.

Next draft will be to get it expanded with bigger panels to 3/4 circle and then practicing until I can get the collar bigger and closer to the way it should look. Also longer past the knees.

Between the classes and the scrap, fabric, sunk about $100 so far.

 

[Doctor Damage]

^
applause for your adventuresome spirit!
fingers crossed you can achieve something wearable
remember to make sure the collar points are fairly long and pointed

if you have a lot of "throwaway" cloth you could just make a huge 3/4 circle, in three panels, and not bother with shaping the shoulders... see what it looks like... there's a danger that too much shaping will be too restrictive

anyways good luck, looking forward to updates

 

[VansonRider]

Hello All,
I have several Yugoslavian alpine cloaks, a bunch of different shelter halves that convert to cloaks, a French policeman’s cloak, and a Soviet Officers rain cloak.
This looks like the only active cloak thread on FL and if there’s an interest here, I can post them?
Or if this is specifically for Marine Boat Cloaks only I’m happy to start a more general thread.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Hello All,
I have several Yugoslavian alpine cloaks, a bunch of different shelter halves that convert to cloaks, a French policeman’s cloak, and a Soviet Officers rain cloak.
This looks like the only active cloak thread on FL and if there’s an interest here, I can post them?
Or if this is specifically for Marine Boat Cloaks only I’m happy to start a more general thread.

There's a more general thread on capes/cloaks at the link below which is probably a good place to post photos of your collection. This thread I think we should keep more focused on US military capes etc. I'm looking forward to your photos.

general thread on Capes/Cloaks

 

[Doctor Damage]

It looks like the Marine Shop is offering the USMC boat cloak again, via special order:

https://marineshop.net/product/boat-cloak-male-special-order/

 

[Doctor Damage]

USMC boat cloak "in the wild". Saw this image on Reddit.

 

[Doctor Damage]

US Army cape, dated 1938, spotted on eBay. The seller said it is a nurse's cape but I don't believe that, it looks just like the men's cape, and the purple lining would suggest "civil affairs corp" (according to Wikipedia), although photo interpretation is a dodgy business and if the lining is actually maroon then it would mean medical, veterinary, etc. Anyways, a lovely garment in excellent condition, and given its age a real survivor.

 

[Aloysius]

I wonder how much it hurt the tailoring trade in the US when US dress uniforms went from being basically a voucher redeemed at the tailors in the area to being factory-produced garments.

Indeed I wonder if that actually increased costs to some extent because it means necessarily making too much, probably the additional cost of alterations (which for some people will actually never be sufficient to ensure the right fit), etc.

 

[coastie_classics]

JoAnn’s Fabrics going out of business gave me an opportunity to pick up this black polyester fabric for just $20 so I jumped on it.

I also finally found a solution to my problem of not being good at making collars. Went to a thrift store and tried on a lot of black shirts till I found one suitable to serve as a collar for $9. Once my three-quarter circle pieces are sewn together, I’ll cut a small circle in the middle of the cloak and sew the cloak around the shirt’s collar. If I can find a satin liner, I think I’ll just bury the shirt between the cloak and the liner. Inelegant solution I know, but I would otherwise struggle on collars. If I can also find suitable felt, I’ll sew the pieces onto the shirt collar to complete the boat cloak look. Updates as they come…

 

[Doctor Damage]

I also finally found a solution to my problem of not being good at making collars. Went to a thrift store and tried on a lot of black shirts till I found one suitable to serve as a collar for $9. Once my three-quarter circle pieces are sewn together, I’ll cut a small circle in the middle of the cloak and sew the cloak around the shirt’s collar. If I can find a satin liner, I think I’ll just bury the shirt between the cloak and the liner. Inelegant solution I know, but I would otherwise struggle on collars. If I can also find suitable felt, I’ll sew the pieces onto the shirt collar to complete the boat cloak look. Updates as they come…

Make sure that the length of the circle you cut is the same length as the collar. Measure twice, cut once, etc.

I have seen on some wool greatcoats, from mainly former Warsaw Pact countries, collars which are once piece: they just cut it in the shape of a collar, fold the outer edges underneath carefully, then sew. Which means when flipped up you see the cut edges, etc. Most of the time soldiers are not allowed to flip up collars, so it looks fine since it's unseen. Same with the collars of boat cloaks, even in cold weather you do up the collar tight but leave it folded down. Flipping up collars is a civilian thing.

See the photos of a boat cloak below which show the underside of the collar. There's a quilted stiffener but you can see how the velvet covering is simply folded over the edge of the stiffener and then sewn on. If you never flip up the collar you never see how "unfinished" it looks.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Here is what appears to be a USN coat cloak dated 1917 (see photo of tag). The frog across the chest is missing.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I wonder how much it hurt the tailoring trade in the US when US dress uniforms went from being basically a voucher redeemed at the tailors in the area to being factory-produced garments.

This is a good point. I don't think we'll ever know but I'm sure many firms drifted out of business or shifted into other lines as demand from military people shrank.

 

[scotrace]

This is great information. Now I must assume my boat cloak, dated to WWII and made for the Navy but with red lining is for a nurses ensemble? I thought I had a "FDR" version but apparently not.

 

[Doctor Damage]

This is great information. Now I must assume my boat cloak, dated to WWII and made for the Navy but with red lining is for a nurses ensemble? I thought I had a "FDR" version but apparently not.

The USN boat cloaks seem to have had red lining for nurses and blue for men. The blue lining seems to have been in various shades, whatever your tailor on hand I suppose (the colour of the lining didn't denote branch or whatever like with Army capes).