bartieboy

Oh excuse me, after looking it up I see that the black uniforms were designed by Karl Diebitsch..they were however manufactured by Hugo Boss with some use of slave labour.

pikeshot1600

deleted.

Lt.Francis l. jones

actually german uniforms are supremely uncomfortable i own 3 examples. the trench coat adds about seven pounds to my weight. theres a wool one it's white don't know much about it. and a captains which was a tight one. oh and the pants where instead of a zipper they had about 5 buttons quite a problem if you've got to take a leak. the american one however is quite nice i actually wear it around school and in public on a daily basis.

Davidius

I can vouch for the truth of this. About twenty years ago I bought a German army field jacket and a German navy greatcoat from an army surplus place in Weymouth. The field jacket made me sweat like a pig and seemed to generate B.O. regardless of how much deodorant I used.
The greatcoat was very warm and durable and lasted more than ten years but it was incredibly heavy. I used to get great pleasure when visiting people and they offered to take my coat upon entering their houses, I would hand it over and their arms would shoot floorward, usually accompanied by an expletive and a 'how the hell do you wear this thing?'

Bish

But of course those photos don't show the standard tunic. I believe that the standard uniforms, such as the M 36, were similar to the modern parade dress we wear today. These are not very comfortable and not light.Of course, no doubt the ones the Germans wore would have become more worn in in time.

Ancientgeezer

I spent a day at the Imperial War Museum a couple of weeks ago ( God did my feet hurt). They have extensive displays or WW1 and WW2 military uniforms from several countries, not just Germany, Britain and the US, they also feature the German non-military uniforms--Org. Todt, Hitler Youth etc.
There is no doubt that the German uniforms were ultra-smart compared to their British equivalents, but there is no evidence that Hugo Boss was a designer for the SS although he was a major supplier of uniforms for the SA, SS, HJ and other party organisations. He may have had a hand in the uniforms for the Reichluftschutzbund, the shadow Nazi Air Force that existed before Hitler announced the existence of the Luftwaffe in 1934. When Goring hosted a press launch of the new force's uniforms, the fact that the uniform had a collar and tie, instead of the usual high-collar was considered outrageously modern.
Jackboots. or Marschsteifel--Marching boots for the men were not the high-riding boots of Hollywood, but, calf-high hobnail boots. They were not issued after 1941 due to a shortage of leather and most troops wore boots similar to those worn by allied troops.
Tall boots, riding boots in fact, were worn by Officers in certain regiments with cavalry connections and for parades, but in field service officers wore the same short boots as rankers.

Lt.Francis l. jones

actually those are light jackets that go over the standard field jacket they were somewhat like a windbreaker that a jogger would wear and you would wear something under like the field jacket. they were for camo and breaking the high winds of the russian winter

Lt.Francis l. jones

and i will try to get a picture up but alas i am supposed to be studying for finals

irishcrusader95

the german army had a particularly distinctive form of uniform, both practical and visually professional. when new clothing and equipment was introduced it often took a while for them to reach individual units especially front line units. individual soldiers, especially senior officers often preferred to retain obsolete items if they attached a certain sentimental value to them or of better quality then the replacement. this gave the wearer an individual look and marked him as an experienced 'old sweat'.

the various items of the new army uniform began to appear following the publication of the Dress Regulations of 8th april 1935 and by the end of the year the main uniform styles were established. the basic uniform was a greenish-grey introduced on the 2nd of july 1929 and given the traditional if inaccurate title of feldgrau or 'field grey'. faceings were in a bluish dark-green 'facing-cloth', finely woven to give an appearance of thin felt. Reichswehruniform items in the M1929 feldgrau but with a darker greenish-gray facing-cloth should have been withdrawn by 1937 but were still occasionally encountered in the 1939/40 period.

the regulations of 1935 prescribed 10 items of dress for officers in peacetime. two ceremonial uniforms and a parade uniform for formal occasions. a walking out and reporting uniform for semi-formal occasions, service undress and guard uniforms for training and barracks duties, the field uniform for combat, and sport dress. NCOs and other ranks had 9, omitting the ceremonial uniforms and adding a fatigue uniform for work duties in the barracks or in the field. some items were manufactured in different versions for officers and other ranks, while others were standard items worn for all ranks. new regulations were issued on 28th of december 1939 to cover the wartime period and the earlier strict observance of regulation eased. the types of uniforms were simplified. service uniforms could be used on most formal and semi-formal occasions but inevitable the field uniform became the most common uniform encountered on the frontline and rear areas. furthermore replacement army units were issued with captured austrian, czech, dutch, french and even british uniform items dyed gray and remodeled to conform to german patterns. fieldcaps were issued for officers for formal occasions and use in rear areas. in the field they would have worn the standard M1935 steel helmet, field tunis with the greatcoat if ordered, brown belt, breeches, riding boots and grey suede gloves. personal equipment was usually limited to the P'08 Luger or P38 Walter pistol in a smooth leather holster and 6x30 binoculars in a smooth black or tan leather bakelite case carried on the right hip. 6n the 21st of March 1940 the conspicuous national shield was removed from the steel helmet and the helmet surface was roughened and repainted with matt feldgrau to matt slate-gray. from 31st of october 1939 all officers below general officer rank in combat units were ordered to wear the M1935 other ranks field tunic, trousers and marching boots with the black leather belt and officers field-quality shoulder-boards. many officers however continued to wear their former uniforms or modified the other ranks tunic by adding officers roll-back cuffs, colour patches and the sharper-pointed higher officers collars.

i'll write more later on the Panzer crew uniforms.

Nemowork

Once the leather was worn in they were supposed to be quite comfortable, the main problem was in getting them to fit and taking them on and off. Plus of course if you went somewhere cold getting decent thick socks underneath was a pain unless you scrounged a pair that were a couple of sizes too big.

Later in the war they went to a more cut down version and then thinner and cheaper leather, then finally to a copy of the British style boot with buckled gaiters which were more practical, more easily produced and easier to fit.
The Germans had known this for a while and their mountain troops used traditional alpine lace up boots but i guess they were a special case.

Rear line officers had a liking for a more cavalry style boot, those are the really high calf and tight ones, great for cutting a dashing image with the ladies of Paris and Berlin, not so good out in the mud.

Theres not much use in comparing them to British issue because by the wars end it was the same thing, the US issued rubber sole boot was incredibly popular with German soldiers because they were lighter than the hobnailed german version and it was common to loot prisoners for them. That practice ended after the first snow of 1944, US issue boots were terrible for retaining sweat compared to German issue ones, in the snow this led to freezing, frost bite and amputation.