Overskirt
The overskirt (also called interim skirt) was part of the military clothing of officers in Prussia and other German states.
development
In the old Prussian army officers usually wore a simplified uniform skirt with an open collar without discounts and buttonhole embroidery, which was referred to as an interim skirt, with their interim uniform outside of duty . The basic color was basically that of the respective branch of service with collar and lap envelopes in the color of the regiment's badge . In contrast to this, officers of some of the cuirassier regiments, which were actually in white uniform, wore red interim skirts. Regardless of the occasion, Frederick II himself usually only wore the simple interim skirt of the 1st Battalion Regiment Guard No. 15 , who was formative for the image of the great king through numerous portraits. After Friedrich's death, tails no longer seem to have been turned down as they would in normal uniforms.
By the highest cabinet order (AKO) of October 23, 1808, the previous interim skirts, which were kept in the color of the troop unit, were abolished and replaced by uniform dark gray overskirts that reached a hand's breadth below the knee and had an open collar. The old interim skirts were allowed to be worn until 1814. This meant that items that had already been procured but had not yet been used up to such an extent that they could no longer be worn in public could continue to be worn until the requested time. The old name interim rock was also retained as a synonym. The new name overskirt came from the fact that it could be worn over the actual uniform skirt. The Litewka, which was quite similar in average , was widespread among the Landwehr and Freikorps , but instead of the normal uniform skirt it was part of the field uniform and was issued to the entire respective unit and not just to the officers.
The successor model, which was introduced in 1814 for use both in and out of service, had a closed collar and only reached down to the knee, but - according to the fashion of the time - was cut so tight that it only fit without a skirt. Nevertheless it kept the official name Über rock. An AKO of December 15, 1838 again specified that the overskirts should reach to the top of the knee. Later, black cloth was specified for officers of the foot troops. In 1842 the collars were rounded under the chin.
With AKO of April 5, 1843, overskirts were abolished, but they could be worn, this also coincided with the introduction of the tunic . In the meantime, however, they were so popular with officers that applying them took an extremely long time, which was tacitly tolerated, which made it the characteristic piece of clothing of the German officer at the time.
In the clothing regulation from 1899 and its continuation until 1911, the overskirt is described in detail in section 75. The basic color was usually that of the uniform skirt. Exceptions were cuirassier officers, who wore Prussian blue overcoats in spite of their white service uniform, and officers of the machine gun detachments established in 1901 , who wore dark green overcoats despite their field-gray service overalls. Hussar officers did not wear overcoats. The overskirt was still in two rows, with six (in Bavaria seven) buttons per row. The buttons corresponded in color to the respective uniform buttons (gold or silver depending on the regiment). The shoulder pieces were worn as the only badges. The stand-up collar was rounded at the front and was the same color as the tunic, the wide cuffs were in the color of the skirt with a narrow protrusion in the color of the collar.
Civil fashion
The civil equivalent of the overcoat was the frock coat , which was often referred to as the overcoat due to the military penetration of Wilhelmine society.
Therefore, on invitation cards in conservative circles, the dress code "Please overcoat" was sometimes found. She requested an appearance in an overcoat or (as a civilian) in a comfortable day suit, usually a frock coat. A tailcoat , i.e. a fine wardrobe, was thus excluded.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Eustachius Graf Pilati: Etiquette chats . 3. Edition. Berlin 1906, p. 234. J. v. Wedell: How should I behave myself . Stuttgart 1896, p. 100 ff.
- ↑ See Rudolf Stratz : Dear Fatherland . 7th chapter