Check your knowledge of the “best of the best dressed” with these detailed descriptions of the U.S. Think you know all the tradition and tailoring that goes into our military’s dress uniforms? Like usual, you’re probably wrong. military dress uniforms (like what accessories make them special, the major events they are worn to, and why they are so much better than any suit-and-tie combo that civilians have ever put together). So we’ve gathered some interesting tidbits about U.S. We’ve learned that you all are a bunch of suckers for facts and trivia about our nation and its military. After all, civilians could never even dream of being so well-dressed as our military members are just by putting on their uniforms. Not only do they command a certain air of dignity and respect within our military, but their classic-yet-contemporary style instantly boosts the confidence of those wearing them and elicits a sense of awe from the civilian community. armed forces bring many thoughts immediately to mind: precision, pride, unity, history, honor, accomplishment and so much more. Whether that actually worked is anyone’s guess there have been no reported studies addressing that assertion.The uniforms of our U.S. The navy blue uniforms, being darker, “would hide the coffee and doughnut stains and inspire more respect,” per a subsequent New York Times article. But police officials said they found that the light blue shirts all too often showed stains from the jelly doughnuts officers ate for breakfast and the pizza they ate between patrols. The department switched from navy to powder blue in 1972 to give the force a softer look after race riots that broke out in cities around the country. And specifically, doughnuts and pizza were to blame. Less than a year into his tenure as the commish, Bratton determined that his police force was, all too often, coming across as unprofessional if not downright sloppy, and the uniforms were part of the problem. In the mid-1990s, this became a concern for NYC Police Commissioner William J. And if you’re on a six-hour patrol shift, it’s not like you can go home to change or wash your shirt. The odds of biting into a jelly doughnut, only to find a smidge of jelly squirt you in the shirt, is rather high. Others - Boston creme, jelly - can be a recipe for disaster. Some - plain glazed ones, chocolate crullers, and to a degree, even powered doughnuts - they’re not all that messy. And so a tradition - and stereotype - was born.īut not all doughnuts are created equal. Doughnut shops, looking to get some added protection during the dead of night, offered free or discounted treats and coffee to night-shift police officers. So if you were up to no good at 3 AM, looking to break into a business and steal some cash, a doughnut shop would be a good target. And in order to make change for customers in the days before credit cards were a thing, these doughnut shops had to have a lot of cash on hand. In order to make good, fresh doughnuts for the morning rush, doughnut makers needed to work overnight. The reason sounds like a stereotype, but it’s true: you can blame the doughnuts.Īs recounted in the excellent, must-read book Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?!, cops and doughnut shops have a symbiotic relationship. Instead, patrolmen and patrolwomen wear dark navy uniforms, as seen below ( via), instead of the baby blues above.īut new uniforms cost money, and replacing the entire police force’s all at once. Cities around the nation, such as Los Angeles (pdf), bought up these surplus shirts and pants, giving them to their law enforcement officers to wear.īut if you’re walking around the streets of New York today, you won’t find any officers wearing the uniform above. When the war ended, the prevailing Union army - the side that wore blue - had lots of leftover uniforms. In the United States, the move to create professional police departments came a bit later and really picked up steam after the Civil War. As the military at the time wore red uniforms, it made sense to choose a different color for non-military law enforcement blue is as close as one can get to being not-red, for the most part. In 1829, the United Kingdom passed the Metropolitan Police Act, which established the nation’s first professional police department. There are two theories as to why, both of which are likely true. Like you’d expect, it’s blue - around the United States and throughout much of the world, police officers tend to wear blue uniforms. Pictured above is a vintage New York Police Department uniform shirt, likely from the 1980s.
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