Military surplus is a fun way to add some spice to your wardrobe, and Spencer and I have been doing it for a while now! We discuss the appeal of Milsurp, our favorite pieces, and where we suggest you get them, all in this much-anticipated episode.

You can also enjoy the plethora of inspiration images (which is probably the real reason you’re here…)

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Outline

2:25 Movie Talk
8:20 Military Surplus
11:50 “There’s just something special about vintage military stuff. Like anything vintage, it’s about the details you can’t find today.”
12:15 “We watched a documentary yesterday about Liverano and he talks about how beautiful a piece of clothing gets as it ages. He was talking about tailoring – we’re talking about more casual garments here – but the same principle applies.”
14:10 “What’s great about the stuff we tend to buy from WWII, Korea, Vietnam is it’s all cotton, all wool, organic fabrics.”
14:40 “The stuff today doesn’t have that same utilitarian feel to it.”
16:50 “Vintage milsurp looks and can fit in better with classic menswear than regular stuff.”
17:20 Our Favorite Pieces
18:30 “One of the things that appeals to us about M-43’s or jungle jackets is they are still very wearable. Guy’s still wear olive military overshirts, they wear BDU’s casually, or they wear a mallbrand repro M-65. So the M-43 and jungle jackets are versions of those things that are a little bit cooler.”
21:00 “It’s all about finding alternatives to things that are still cool. Instead of wearing a trenchcoat, wearing an M-43 field jacket. Pop the collar, little bit above the knee, it’s cooler, they have a rugged appeal to them.”
27:40 “This episode is going to be completely incomprehensible if you don’t know much about military surplus.”
30:25 “For me military surplus has this appeal that workwear always had: the beauty in these incredibly practical garments. We’re talking about them as fashion but they were not designed as fashion, they were designed to be worn on 10 hour marches and carry fucking ammo pouches – I don’t know what they carry I haven’t served.”
31:10 “The appeal of it, especially when we spoke about the 70’s, is people started to wear these things out in public because that’s what they had.”
33:10 How We Pull it Off
36:00 “Chinos are the easiest way to get into it. Khaki chinos if they’re WWII are cool because of their age and high waist, but it’s still different from wearing Banana Republic chinos, the wider leg brings a different silhouette and creates more interest.”
43:35 “When you wear a lot of military surplus, there come connotations with it. It’s easier to avoid those connotations if you’re just wearing a field jacket, but if you’re wearing something that has a specific branch of the military on it or a lot of combined military, you look like a militia person.”
44:10 “It’s really hard to wear a WWII greatcoat without looking like Dwight Schrute.”
47:40 “You look at Inherent Vice: he’s wearing a military jacket the whole time, you see that in a lot of movies of the 60’s and 70’s, these counter-culture characters wearing military jackets. It’s the same thing that we’re doing, we’re wearing it in a different context to give it new meaning.”
48:10 Where To Get It
48:15 “Avoid milsurp stores because they typically do not carry this type of stuff. They’ll carry what is currently surplus. A lot of milsurp stores do have a stock of vintage items, some repro…if you can, always go for original.”
50:00 “Check your local flea markets because I’m sure someone out there is selling it, I’m sure you’ll find something.”
51:20 “If everyone is buying 90’s streetwear, casual wear is the hype – milsurp is the hype for classic menswear.”
54:31 Skip the Nazi memorabilia!
54:31 “Some of the guys that run these WWII repro sites have maybe weird opinions about Nazi Germany.”
55:30 “I know that black trench coats are cool but it’s not okay to wear Nazi gear out and about.”

Recommended Stores

Raggedy Threads – Vintage
Wooden Sleepers – Vintage
Rose Bowl Flea Market
At the Front – Repro
Bronson MFG – Repro
What Price Glory – Repro

Submit Your Questions & Stories

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Buh-bye!

StyleandDirection | EthanMWong | SpencerDSO

The Podcast is produced by MJ and Matthew.