Veterans: Does your uniform still hang in your closet?

[kfields]

Mine sits in the cedar chest next to my grandfathers WW1 uniform.

[willysmb44]

On 7/9/2024 at 10:17 PM, USMCR79 said:

but after nearly 30 years in Florida most of the uniforms, boots, etc. had disintegrated. 

A couple years ago I was going through a closet and found my old Clorfam shoes for my As and blues. The soles had turned into something like they'd been put in a blender. Oh well, it's not like I was ever going to wear them again...

[atb]

39 minutes ago, willysmb44 said:

A couple years ago I was going through a closet and found my old Clorfam shoes for my As and blues. The soles had turned into something like they'd been put in a blender. Oh well, it's not like I was ever going to wear them again...

My old Corfams fell apart when I wore them some years after retirement for a military funeral.

[Paulruss]

Still in the closet.  Wore it to the daughter's wedding, probably wear it to my going away party.

[12thengr]

 Not only my own, (pictured) but my Dad's class 'A' greens from his reserve unit in the 1960's and my sons class 'A's and his DCU's and woodland fatigues from the second Gulf War. Mine are from the Cold War, late 1970's. The ugly black low cuts are from my initial issue in basic, Dec. 1973. I guess I am a militaria collector.🤣

[Chuckman1108]

I was in the Navy/Navy Reserve, almost a dozen years enlisted (corpsman, all with the Marines), the rest as an officer.  I got rid of a lot of stuff, but not all.  I still have a khaki shirt and summer white shirt hanging, some M81 and MARPATs, boots, pea coat, a few other items.

[cwnorma]

The uniforms stayed in the closet for a while but about five years after retiring, I was inclined to throw everything out.  My wife intervened!  That stuff is all now in a box somewhere--only she knows exactly where.

 

After almost a quarter century enlisted and retired from active duty for almost as long, today I find myself a DoD civilian.  Recently, accompanying several visiting Generals on an inspection tour of a training base, I was riding along on the lead Surrey bus, going over (in my head) the exit protocol (last in first out, etc) with the Generals.  As the Surrey pulled to the curb, I had a moment of panic:  

 

"Where is my cover?!?!"

 

It runs deep.

 

Chris

[rosieres64]

In a garment bag in a closet since July 1967.

[JohnK83882]

Cedar closets are known as great places to store treasured textiles but that's because the insects don't like cedar. But you should keep anything you want to preserve away from wood. Unbleached muslin or acid-free unbuffered tissue paper at least.

[ceg294]

Been retired since 2002 and I’ve kept my USAF Service Dress uniform, last set of DCUs worn and last set of BDUs worn. Service dress is in a garment bag in the closet and the DCUs/BDUs are hanging in my man cave. I also have my BDU field jacket w/liner and OD field jacket w/liner and winter/cold weather hood. Lastly, I kept my Nomex flight jacket as well. Everything else was donated to the Airman’s Attic at Bolling AFB shortly after retirement.

Next move in a few years will definitely be downsizing so most, if not all of the above will be going somewhere else... 

[Dave]

I looked back through this thread and I never updated it after I retired from the Navy. 🤣 My closet now stores a single set of dress blues. Everything else I either boxed up and put in my shed or gave away. I last wore this uniform for my mother in law's funeral. I'm not sure when I'll wear it again. Luckily, I have my medals and insignia displayed in my office, so the uniform is easy enough to put back together again. :) 

 

[Dave]

All I have to do to put the uniform back together is just grab my insignia from the frame. Fast and easy...though I've only had to do it once. 

[KASTAUFFER]

22 hours ago, Dave said:

All I have to do to put the uniform back together is just grab my insignia from the frame. Fast and easy...though I've only had to do it once. 

 

Where do you put those Ford plates?

 

[Dave]

36 minutes ago, KASTAUFFER said:

 

Where do you put those Ford plates?

 

 

Hey now...pay attention to the medals...not my other collection. 🤣🤣

[KurtA]

29 minutes ago, Dave said:

 

Hey now...pay attention to the medals...not my other collection. 🤣🤣

Couldn’t help to notice the cool watch and Model A (I think) radiator emblems.  

[Salvage Sailor]

No room for the scrambled eggs combination cap?

[Taber10]

While I kept my uniforms after I retired in 2004, I STILL have a problem with the desert stuff--I had "chocolate chips" and the newer "three-color" DCUs--when I see the desert colored stuff I get very nervous, like someone is going to take my BEER away--again!

[gimmie]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:10 PM, JohnK83882 said:

Cedar closets are known as great places to store treasured textiles but that's because the insects don't like cedar. But you should keep anything you want to preserve away from wood. Unbleached muslin or acid-free unbuffered tissue paper at least.

 

Hey John, mind if I ask why you should keep them away from wood? Is it to do with the way its been treated? Is it purely direct contact you should avoid?

[JohnK83882]

20 minutes ago, gimmie said:

 

Hey John, mind if I ask why you should keep them away from wood? Is it to do with the way its been treated? Is it purely direct contact you should avoid?

Acidity and breathing spaces are two issues here. Wood is acidic. The wood inside a cedar chest is unvarnished so that's an acidic surface to avoid. Even a varnished surface can encourage mold growth. Unbleached muslin is considered a safer surface to buffer between artifacts and where it's stored.

 

Cedar chests have traditionally been considered like a time capsule but it's not an ideal place to store stuff. Here's a little bit on the topic. https://info.gaylord.com/resources/guide-archival-storage-of-textiles

 

But this is just a suggestion. They made millions of army jackets and you have a right to do what you want with the stuff you bought. 

[gimmie]

1 hour ago, JohnK83882 said:

Acidity and breathing spaces are two issues here. Wood is acidic. The wood inside a cedar chest is unvarnished so that's an acidic surface to avoid. Even a varnished surface can encourage mold growth. Unbleached muslin is considered a safer surface to buffer between artifacts and where it's stored.

 

Cedar chests have traditionally been considered like a time capsule but it's not an ideal place to store stuff. Here's a little bit on the topic. https://info.gaylord.com/resources/guide-archival-storage-of-textiles

 

But this is just a suggestion. They made millions of army jackets and you have a right to do what you want with the stuff you bought. 

 

Thanks for the write-up, John! I've never really collected uniforms in the past but I'm looking forward to receiving my first one soon enough. Appreciate the advice.