Army Surplus: Dressed for Rebellion
The Camo Guide › Army surplus
Kit made for war has dressed nearly every movement that stood against it: anti-war marchers, mods, punks, hip-hop crews and skaters. Camo and surplus have been part of our shop since day one, so here’s how surplus got from the barracks to the street, why you might still want it, and how to find the real thing.
1945 onwards
The surplus boom
Two world wars left governments with warehouses of kit nobody needed. It went cheap, and the public bought it.
After 1945Surplus stores everywhere
ConfirmedNPR’s Planet Money tells it plainly: “Army surplus stores were rare oddities before World War II. After World War II, they explode.” They were everywhere “because it is so easy to buy up large amounts of cheap inventory.”
According to NPR, the US War Assets Administration’s stock was so big “it would take 34,000 such buildings” to hold it. Menswear writer G. Bruce Boyer remembers why everyone shopped there: “It was cheap, you know?”
According to Standard & Strange, veterans went to university in their old khakis and field jackets, and helped make American dress more casual.
Sources: NPR, Art of Manliness, Standard & Strange
1950s – 1960sBritain and the duffle coat
Official sourceThe National Army Museum says that after the war “civilians began wearing army surplus duffel coats”. Gloverall started out selling a batch of Royal Navy surplus duffles and found that “demand outpaced supply”.
Wikipedia says cheap surplus made the duffle “a ubiquitous item of British civilian clothing in the 1950s and 1960s, especially among students”. According to Gloverall, CND marchers wore them too.
Sources: National Army Museum, Gloverall, Wikipedia
Who wore it
Dressed for rebellion
Again and again, the people pushing against the establishment reached for its uniform.
1960s – 1970sProtesting in the uniform
ConfirmedThe first big statement came from the people who wanted the war to end. Anti-war marchers and returning veterans wore army field jackets on protests. NPR puts it simply: the same M-65, “just this time, with a peace sign on the back.”
Vietnam Veterans Against the War went further and marched in the fatigues they had worn in Vietnam. Their own paper says that by doing so “the veterans turned the uniform’s meaning on its head.”
According to the menswear shop Standard & Strange, by 1968 a Princeton student could report that “Army jackets are worn as a symbol of rebellion.”
Sources: NPR, Heddels, Analog/Shift, The Veteran (VVAW), Standard & Strange
1960s, 1979 and the 1990sMods and the fishtail parka
ConfirmedThe US Army’s M-51 fishtail parka came out of the Korean War. In Britain it became the mod coat. Heddels calls it “a cheap piece of military surplus that could keep dust off of a Mod’s suit while he was on a scooter”, and it soon became part of the look itself.
According to Wikipedia, the late-1970s mod revival, led by bands such as The Jam, brought back US Army parkas, and the 1979 film Quadrophenia spread the look across the country.
Then Britpop picked it up again. According to the fashion brand A.P.C., Liam Gallagher was inspired by Quadrophenia and Paul Weller, and the parka became the cornerstone of the Oasis look.
Sources: Heddels, Highsnobiety, Wikipedia, A.P.C.
1970s – 1980sPunks and skinheads
Official sourceThe V&A says the punk bondage trousers sold by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren “mix references to army combat gear”. Most punks couldn’t afford the shop versions. A study in the journal Punk & Post-Punk found that ex-army jackets and trousers, dyed black and covered in zips, studs and safety pins, were “a lot cheaper and more accessible”.
Skinhead dress took in Dr. Martens, combat trousers and the MA-1 flight jacket. The V&A holds a 1989 MA-1, worn as part of a skinhead outfit, in its collection.
According to The Rake, by Combat Rock in 1982 The Clash had moved to “a Vietnam-chic uniform of sleeveless jackets and army fatigues”.
Sources: V&A, Punk & Post-Punk (UAL Research Online), V&A, The Rake
1976 and 1982The M-65 on screen
ConfirmedIn Taxi Driver (1976), Travis Bickle is a former Marine back from Vietnam, and he wears an M-65 field jacket. According to BAMF Style, Rambo wears his own M-65 in First Blood (1982), with a flag patch and “U.S. ARMY” over the chest.
BAMF Style sums up the decade: “By the 1970s, Army field jackets had evolved from strictly G.I. gear through countercultural symbol into the mainstream as utilitarian everyman dress.”
Sources: BAMF Style, Wikipedia, BAMF Style
1980s – 1990sHip-hop and the surplus floor
ConfirmedHip-hop wore camo because it was cheap. Heddels says cargo trousers and jackets were “readily available at army surplus stores and relatively inexpensive”, and Acclaim describes kids buying camo jackets and cargo pants “fresh off the surplus floor”.
According to Acclaim, camo was taken up in Brooklyn in the 1980s, and rappers including Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony wore it. Then streetwear made its own. BAPE launched its 1st Camo in 1996, and Acclaim says Japanese brands such as BAPE and WTAPS “ended the need for hip-hop fans to scour surplus stores”.
Sources: Heddels, Acclaim, nss magazine, Complex
1990sGrunge, skate and cargo trousers
Single sourceAccording to the radio station KCRW, Kurt Cobain’s clothes were “a mix of hand-me-downs, thrift store finds and clothes from Army-Navy surplus stores.”
According to Heddels, cargo trousers began with British Army battledress in 1938 and caught on in the 1990s “in hip hop, skate and other counter-culture circles”.
1968 onwardsThe designers take note
Official sourceFashion houses borrowed from the army too. The Musée Yves Saint Laurent says the designer’s 1968 safari jacket was inspired by “the uniforms worn by the Afrika Korps” as well as colonial dress.
In London, Hardy Blechman founded Maharishi in 1994. In his words, the plan was “to only offer environmentally sound hemp and upcycled military & industrial surplus.” He later published DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material, an encyclopaedia of camouflage.
Sources: Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris, END. (Hardy Blechman interview), Maharishi
“By wearing their military uniforms to protest the war, the veterans turned the uniform’s meaning on its head.” The Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Why we wear it
Every one of those movements had its own reasons, but the same few come up again and again. Chances are yours is in here too.
It’s cheap
ConfirmedFrom post-war America to 1970s punk and 1990s hip-hop, the reason given first is price. Punks found dyed ex-army gear “a lot cheaper and more accessible”, and hip-hop bought camo “fresh off the surplus floor”.
Sources: NPR, Punk & Post-Punk (UAL Research Online), Acclaim
It’s built to last
Official sourceMilitary kit is designed for hard use. The National Army Museum notes the duffle’s toggles could be fastened “with gloved or frozen hands”, and the IWM describes the DPM smock as “comfortable and practical unless saturated”.
Sources: National Army Museum, Imperial War Museum
It says something
Single sourceAccording to Standard & Strange, students could “assert their own identity and dress down, all while wearing clothing made for the very purpose of uniformity and status quo.” That twist is the whole story of this page.
Source: Standard & Strange
It’s already had one life
Single sourceSurplus is second-hand by definition. The UK charity WRAP says that making clothes last just nine months longer “could reduce carbon, water, and waste footprints by up to 20%”. That figure covers clothing in general, not surplus alone.
Source: WRAP
It feels close to nature
Single sourceMaharishi’s founder Hardy Blechman thinks camo’s pull is partly about the outdoors: city dwellers “may look at any way to symbolically connect” with nature.
Source: END. (Hardy Blechman interview)
The classics
Seventeen pieces that turn up again and again in surplus shops and on vintage rails, with what to look for if you’re buying.
| Year | Piece | Country | How sure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | M-65 field jacket | United States | Confirmed |
| Early 1950s | M-51 fishtail parka | United States | Single source |
| 1949 or the 1950s | MA-1 flight jacket | United States | Disputed |
| Undated | N-3B “snorkel” parka | United States | Official source |
| 1943 | M-43 field jacket | United States | Single source |
| 1943 | US Navy N-1 deck jacket | United States | Single source |
| 1963 or 1964 | Jungle jacket | United States | Disputed |
| 1981 | BDU combat trousers and jacket | United States | Wikipedia only |
| Post-war | Royal Navy duffle coat | United Kingdom | Official source |
| 1968 | British DPM combat smock | United Kingdom | Official source |
| 1942 | Windproof smock | United Kingdom | Wikipedia only |
| Undated | The “Norgie” shirt | Norway (British issue) | Confirmed |
| Undated | The “woolly pully” | United Kingdom | Single source |
| 1960s – early 1980s | Swedish M59 field jacket | Sweden | Confirmed |
| Until the 1990s | Bundeswehr olive and moleskin | West Germany | Confirmed |
| 1965 | East German rain pattern | East Germany | Official source |
| 1947 | French M-47 trousers | France | Single source |
1965M-65 field jacket
ConfirmedThe jacket most people picture when they hear “army surplus”. It replaced the M-51 in 1965, with a hood that zips into the collar, a button-in liner and a cotton and nylon shell. Alpha Industries says it starred in Taxi Driver and Serpico.
Buying tip: according to Put This On, “M-65s are cut large to accommodate liners”, so you can often go a size down.
Sources: Alpha Industries, Wikipedia, Put This On, Analog/Shift
Early 1950sM-51 fishtail parka
Single sourceAccording to Heddels, it grew out of a 1948 prototype and came with detachable hood and body liners. The long split tail gives it its name. It is the mod parka.
Source: Heddels
1949 or the 1950sMA-1 flight jacket
DisputedA short nylon jacket with a knitted collar and a bright orange lining, which Alpha and Wikipedia agree was there so downed airmen could be spotted. Disputed: Alpha says it was introduced to the US military in 1949; Wikipedia says it was developed in the 1950s.
Alpha says it “found its way to surplus stores and into civilian hands”. Wikipedia says it was popular in the late 1970s “with punks, mods and skinheads”.
Sources: Alpha Industries, Wikipedia
UndatedN-3B “snorkel” parka
Official sourceAlpha Industries says the N-3B was the first jacket it made for the US military, built for Air Force crews in extreme cold. It was first made in midnight blue and later in sage green. Put This On calls it “likely the warmest of the surplus jackets”.
Sources: Alpha Industries, Put This On
1943M-43 field jacket
Single sourceAccording to usww2uniforms.com, it was standardised on 12 August 1943 as the wind-resistant outer layer of a layering system. It was made in olive drab cotton sateen and, unlike later field jackets, has real lapels.
Sources: usww2uniforms.com, Put This On
1943US Navy N-1 deck jacket
Single sourceAccording to the dealer International Military Antiques, it was developed in 1943 with a hard-wearing “jungle cloth” shell and an alpaca lining. Originals have a stencilled “U.S.N.” on the left chest.
Source: International Military Antiques
1963 or 1964Jungle jacket
DisputedThe Vietnam-era tropical combat coat, with slanted chest pockets and two lower pockets. Disputed (slightly): International Military Antiques says the first pattern was adopted in 1963; Wikipedia says it was issued from 1964. Later versions were made in ripstop.
Sources: International Military Antiques, Wikipedia
1981BDU combat trousers and jacket
Wikipedia onlyAccording to Wikipedia, the Battle Dress Uniform was first issued on 1 October 1981 in Woodland camouflage, in a 50/50 cotton and nylon twill, and the Army dropped it in 2008. Its cargo-pocket trousers are the surplus classic.
Source: Wikipedia
Post-warRoyal Navy duffle coat
Official sourceThe National Army Museum says that after the war “civilians began wearing army surplus duffel coats”. Its toggles could be done up “with gloved or frozen hands”. Cheap surplus duffles became a British student staple in the 1950s and 60s, and Gloverall began making its own version in the early 1950s.
Sources: National Army Museum, Wikipedia, Gloverall
1968British DPM combat smock
Official sourceThe National Army Museum says that when the 1968 pattern was issued, Britain became “the first force to universally adopt a camouflage uniform”. The IWM describes four flapped pockets, a button-on hood, a waist drawcord and a rear pocket big enough for a rolled poncho. Soldiers found it “comfortable and practical unless saturated”.
Sources: National Army Museum, Imperial War Museum
1942Windproof smock
Wikipedia onlyAccording to Wikipedia, the 1942 Pattern windproof smock was issued to scouts and snipers from 1943, and versions of it have stayed the basic Special Forces smock ever since.
Folklore: the nickname “SAS Windproof”. Wikipedia says the smock is sometimes “incorrectly” called that.
Source: Wikipedia
UndatedThe “Norgie” shirt
ConfirmedA Norwegian-style cotton shirt with a high zip neck, issued to British forces. Armykit says the British Army adopted it “in the 90s”; Military Kit says the Royal Marines field-tested it first.
Sources: Armykit, Military Kit
UndatedThe “woolly pully”
Single sourceThe British forces’ heavy wool jumper. According to ARRSEpedia, the British Army’s own wiki, it is “hard wearing, reasonably smart, rib-knit to fit anyone snugly”.
Care tip: ARRSEpedia’s advice is “do not (ever) put one through the washing machine”, or it will fit “the average eight-year-old”.
Source: ARRSEpedia
1960s – early 1980sSwedish M59 field jacket
ConfirmedTwo surplus dealers agree it was issued from the 1960s to the early 1980s, in heavy green cotton, with rear “poacher” pockets.
Buying tip: according to Americana Pipedream, “These fit very tight in the shoulders, size up if you’ve got broad shoulders.”
Sources: Military Mart, Americana Pipedream
Until the 1990sBundeswehr olive and moleskin
ConfirmedThe German army wore plain olive until Flecktarn replaced it in the 1990s. Varusteleka says “the older stuff was sold on the surplus market”, which is why German olive trousers and parkas are so easy to find.
Sources: Varusteleka, Wikipedia
1965East German rain pattern
Official sourceThe IWM says the East German army adopted the M1965 Strichtarn, “broken vertical brown lines on a grey/green field”, with summer and winter versions. After reunification it became a surplus favourite, and our Cold War page tells its story.
Source: Imperial War Museum
1947French M-47 trousers
Single sourceAccording to Heddels, the M-47 is a French Army trouser in cotton herringbone twill “with deep slash pockets and cargo pockets on each leg”. Early versions had one waist button, later ones two.
Source: Heddels
Copied by everyone
From surplus to the label
The surplus shop was the first stop. Then clothing brands started making the pieces themselves, from high-street versions to replicas accurate down to the stitching. It’s why you’ll find field jackets and cargos from brands we stock on our own rails.
1970s onwardsThe M-65, made by everyone
ConfirmedAlpha Industries made the M-65 for the US Army, and Wikipedia says it has been made for civilians “since at least the early 1970s”. Alpha still sells a Heritage version and calls itself “the original manufacturer of the M-65”.
Since then almost every brand has had a go. Gear Patrol’s round-up includes J. Crew, Woolrich, Orslow and The Real McCoy’s, noting the style is “so popular even Nike took a stab at it”. According to John Lewis, Norse Projects’ Military Liner Jacket takes its cue from the M-65 parka liner, and Uniqlo calls its Utility Jacket a “modern interpretation of the military field jacket”.
Brands we stock have done it too. Deus Ex Machina makes an M65 Cordura Jacket, and END. has listed a Carhartt WIP M-65 Utility Jacket.
Sources: Alpha Industries, Wikipedia, Gear Patrol, John Lewis, Gear Patrol, Deus Ex Machina, END.
1970 onwardsThe MA-1 goes designer
ConfirmedAlpha also made the MA-1, and started selling to civilians in 1970. According to Dazed, it went fully wholesale with the jacket in 1984. Punks, mods and skinheads had already taken it up by the late 1970s.
Then the catwalk caught on. According to Dazed, Jean Paul Gaultier, Raf Simons and Vetements all made their own versions. SSENSE says the jacket’s simple design “explains why the original is so widely copied today.”
1938 onwardsThe cargo trouser
ConfirmedEvery pair of cargos goes back to British Army battledress. Its trousers, first worn in 1938, had “a large map pocket on the front near the left knee”. The Americans enlarged the idea for their paratroopers in the Second World War.
Cargos went mainstream in the 1990s and early 2000s, and Wikipedia says they found “renewed popularity in the 2020s as part of the ‘Y2K’ fashion trend”. Carhartt WIP describes its cargo range as “the utility of a classic BDU silhouette with a contemporary design approach”.
Sources: Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Heddels, Carhartt WIP
1982Stone Island and the army tarpaulin
ConfirmedMassimo Osti’s Stone Island grew straight out of military kit. SSENSE puts it simply: “Stone Island started in 1982 with a military truck tarpaulin.”
According to SSENSE, Osti “avidly collected military gear because of the high level of research involved in its design.”
2004 onwardsPatagonia’s military side
Single sourceIt works the other way too. According to Soldier Systems Daily, Patagonia began making cold-weather clothing for US special forces in 2004, through a contracting arm called the Lost Arrow Project.
Source: Soldier Systems Daily
2010Pike Brothers
Single sourceAccording to Heddels, the modern Pike Brothers label was started in 2010 and its “creative inspiration is deeply rooted in World War II military wear”.
The brand tells a story of two tailors, George and Joseph Pike, on Portobello Road in 1930. We couldn’t find an independent record of it, so treat it as the brand’s own story.
Source: Heddels
Stitch for stitch
Some makers don’t want a version of the jacket. They want the jacket, rebuilt exactly as the military first specified it.
1945 onwardsWhy Japan?
Official sourceAfter the war, Tokyo’s Ueno black markets sold “military-issue sunglasses and leather jackets procured from the Occupation’s stockpiles”, according to Japan’s own transport ministry.
W. David Marx’s book Ametora tells how Japan “mimicked, adapted, imported, and ultimately perfected American style”. In an interview with Heddels, Marx suggests one reason the replica makers focus on American kit: collecting Japanese military items is taboo.
Sources: Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Basic Books (Ametora), Heddels (W. David Marx interview)
1993Buzz Rickson’s
Official sourceBuzz Rickson’s was founded in 1993 and makes flight jackets, shirts and hats to the original military specification. Its parent company, Toyo Enterprise, grew out of the firm that made the embroidered “sukajan” souvenir jackets sold to American servicemen in occupied Japan.
Buzz Rickson’s says its name comes from Steve McQueen’s character in the 1961 film The War Lover. It researches original jackets and makes “every effort to duplicate the material paying close attention to the woven fabric techniques”, even restoring old spinning and weaving machines when the right cloth no longer exists.
The best story is fiction coming true. William Gibson gave the heroine of his 2003 novel Pattern Recognition a black Buzz Rickson’s MA-1, a jacket that didn’t exist. In Gibson’s words, the company “had been getting requests for black MA-1’s”, so it made one.
Sources: Buzz Rickson’s, Buzz Rickson’s (Product concept), Buzz Rickson’s Japan, Heddels, Heddels, Wikipedia, Gizmodo, Heddels (William Gibson interview)
1980s or early 2000sThe Real McCoy’s
DisputedFamous for its A-2 leather flight jackets. The brand says it reproduces “using methods and machinery of the past”, and according to Heddels each A-2 takes “no less than two months to be handcrafted by a small production team in Kobe”.
Disputed: Heddels says Hitoshi Tsujimoto founded the brand in the early 2000s; BonneGueule says it was founded in the 1980s. According to Why Is This Interesting, both are partly right: the label began in the 1980s and Tsujimoto later took it over. Its sister brand Toys McCoy is now a separate company.
Sources: The Real McCoy’s, Heddels, BonneGueule, Why Is This Interesting, Heddels
2012Bronson
Official sourceThe budget end of the replica world. Bronson Mfg. says it was “founded in 2012” and is “committed to letting more people wear high-quality classic menswear at a reasonable price”, from military outerwear to selvedge denim. According to FashionBeans, it is a Chinese brand, selling pieces such as OG-107 trousers direct to buyers.
Sources: Bronson Mfg., FashionBeans
1984Eastman Leather Clothing
Official sourceBritain’s own replica maker. Eastman says it was established in 1984 and makes “extremely authentic, high quality reproductions of WWII vintage flight jackets and accessories”, including A-2 and B-3 jackets, “made right here in the U.K. in our own factory”. According to the US retailer History Preservation, it even reproduces “the metal collar clips, press studs and various defunct zipper styles correct to the era”.
Sources: Eastman Leather Clothing, History Preservation
“Fashion uses military associations to sell items, like white t-shirts and trench coats.” Bodmin Keep: Cornwall’s Army Museum
Why brands keep copying
It works
Single sourceThe designs were made to solve problems. William Gibson told Heddels what draws him to military clothing: “functionality, the design solutions, the durability”.
It’s easy to copy
Single sourceMost military pieces are simple. SSENSE says the MA-1’s simplicity “explains why the original is so widely copied today.”
Source: SSENSE
It sells
Official sourceA military look carries meaning, and meaning sells. That is the point Bodmin Keep, Cornwall’s army museum, makes in the quote above.
“Mil-spec” isn’t a gold standard
ConfirmedBrands love the words “mil-spec” and “military grade”. A military specification is a minimum standard, though. Shooting Illustrated calls it “a floor rather than a ceiling”.
Sources: Shooting Illustrated, Wikipedia
Brands in this story that we stock:
Spot the real thing
Genuine issue kit carries clues. Here’s how to read them before you hand over your money.
US contract numbers
ConfirmedUS labels carry a contract number whose letters give the era: DSA from 1962 to 1977, DLA from 1978 to 1993, and SPO from 1994. The two digits after the letters give the year, so “DLA100-91-…” means 1991.
Sources: Rare Gear USA, Army Navy Warehouse
M-65 zips
ConfirmedThe zip metal dates the jacket: aluminium or chrome up to 1971, brass from 1972 to 1986, then nylon. According to Case Clearwear, the very first jackets of 1965 and 1966 have no shoulder epaulettes.
Sources: Wikipedia, Case Clearwear
British size labels
ConfirmedA British label reading 180/96 means a wearer 180cm tall with a 96cm chest. Trousers use three numbers: inside leg, waist and seat. The Militaria Shop warns the size describes “the body it was designed to fit, not the garment itself”.
Sources: The Militaria Shop, Swiss Link
Stock numbers
ConfirmedA NATO Stock Number has 13 digits. The fifth and sixth digits are a country code for the nation that first catalogued the item. According to Wikipedia’s table, 99 means the UK, 12 Germany, 14 France and 64 Sweden.
Sources: Odyssey DCS, Wikipedia
The broad arrow
Wikipedia onlyAccording to Wikipedia, the broad arrow marked British government property for centuries, and two arrows stamped point to point meant an item had been legally “sold out of service”. The story that Henry Sidney introduced it is folklore.
Source: Wikipedia
No badges
Official sourceAn MoD reply to a Freedom of Information request says surplus uniform must have “all badges, emblems, insignia and motifs” removed before sale. If they can’t be removed, the uniform is destroyed and recycled.
Source: MoD FOI 2016/03577
From barracks to the shop
How much comes out each year? Nobody publishes a count of pieces. In 2021 the MoD told a Freedom of Information request that “there is no requirement in the contract to track declared surplus clothing by weight.” These are the best figures we found.
| Where | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| UK clothing | Units declare surplus. A contractor collects it, then sorts and grades it for resale. Disposal Services Ltd handled clothing in 2016 and Field Textiles in 2021. | MoD FOI 2016/03577, MoD FOI2021/10137 |
| UK clothing, 2024 on | Ramco won the MoD contract in March 2024 and expects to handle “over 6,500 pallets of clothing and textiles each year”, sold to government and trade buyers through its online auctions. | Ramco |
| UK overseas | Agility DGS: a four-year contract from 2020, worth up to £12.8m, to sell surplus aircraft, ships and vehicles wherever the MoD has a base. | UK Defence Journal |
| United States | About half of all surplus goes to foreign military sales. The rest goes to other agencies, donations or public sale, which Liquidity Services was contracted to run from 2008. | Congressional Research Service |
| United States, 2020 | Ritchie Bros. said it sold 75,000 US defence surplus items through its GovPlanet auctions in one year. That covers everything, not just clothing. | Ritchie Bros. (PR Newswire) |
Where to find it
Surplus shops
Wikipedia onlyAccording to Wikipedia, surplus stores sold “large amounts of former military clothing and equipment” after both world wars. West Germany even ran its own state surplus shops until the 1980s. Scotland still has gems: VisitScotland calls Walk This Way in Coldstream “an Aladdins cave of collectible and practical military surplus”, with a free museum in the basement.
Sources: Wikipedia, VisitScotland
Government auctions
Official sourceIn the US, the Defense Logistics Agency says its sales are “open to the general public”. In the UK, MoD clothing goes to Ramco’s auctions for government and trade buyers, so most of us buy it through dealers.
Sources: DLA Disposition Services FAQ (2015), Ramco
Not the Army & Navy
Official sourceLondon’s Army & Navy Stores wasn’t a surplus shop. The Science Museum Group says it was formed in 1871 by army and navy officers to sell everyday goods to members “at the lowest remunerative rates”.
Source: Science Museum Group
Vintage and online
Vintage shops, markets and online marketplaces are where most surplus changes hands now. Use the label tips above, measure the garment, and check the size code rather than guessing.
Wear it right
The law
Official sourceOrdinary surplus is fine to wear. The House of Commons Library says the Uniforms Act 1894 makes it an offence to wear armed forces uniform “under such circumstances as to be likely to bring contempt upon that uniform”. It doesn’t apply to medals alone. Our Camo FAQ covers the law at home and abroad.
Source: House of Commons Library
A veteran’s view
Single sourceWriting in Army Times, a US Army veteran says “most service members understand that camo pants or boots are not stolen valor”. His one request: “Wearing camo is not inherently disrespectful, but pretending it has no origin is dismissive.”
Source: Army Times
Medals are different
Official sourceFake medals are what really upsets veterans. The Defence Committee heard that they undermine people who “have actually served”, though the Royal British Legion said such cases “appear to be rare”.
Gallery
More from the Camo Guide
Every era in date order, plus the country index and the FAQ. Back to the Camo Guide.
Keep exploring
Image credits
Army surplus store front with camouflage clothing on racks: Photo: Anna Frodesiak, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Anti-Vietnam War march, 24 April 1971; veterans in fatigues with “Veterans” banner: Photo: Leena A. Krohn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
BAPE founder Nigo in a camouflage cap, 2006: Photo: Sry85, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
Skateboarder in camo jacket and camo cap napping on his board: Photo: Ashley Van Haeften, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
Military exercise in Nuremberg, West Germany, January 1986.: Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
British Army DPM para smock (garment photo).: UrbanEpitaph ( talk ) ( Uploads ), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
Photo of East German Strichtarn fabric (‘model 1964’, 1965).: Joan Rocaguinard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
Close-up of camo combat trousers and trainers on the Tube: Photo: Annie Mole, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
Street-style shot at night: woman in blue camo trousers and denim jacket: Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Modified (cropped and colour-graded) by Fat Buddha Store.
East German border troops on patrol at the inner-German border, 1979.: Unknown (released by US Armed Forces, DA-ST-86-06123) — public domain (PD-US-1978-89), via Wikimedia Commons
British soldier in Soldier 95 pattern DPM.: Pgz (uploader, assumed by Commons) — public domain (PD-self), via Wikimedia Commons
Last checked September 2026. Found a mistake or know something we don’t? Tell us in the shop at 81 Queen Street, Glasgow.
