Soviet uniform piece

[Riley1965]

Hi All. I just picked up my first Soviet uniform piece. I got to admit my focus had been until now just ODMs. But, this uniform caught my eye. Any input on this would be welcomed. I know very little about uniforms.

[Nack]

You've got what's called a "dembel" or "de-mob" uniform tunic. At the end of a conscript's hitch, he was unofficially allowed to jazz up his uniform. These uniforms range from slightly upgraded to really fancy. You've got a pretty cool one there, congrats :)

[Riley1965]

What is the shoulder cord for?

[Lapa]

Originally Posted by riley1965

What is the shoulder cord for?

Just to enhance the uniform, that's what "dembel" uniforms are all about.

Marc

[Riley1965]

Who officially would wear this shoulder cord ?

[Lapa]

Riley,

No one. According to regulations, it does not belong to this uniform.

Marc

[ibaya]

Originally Posted by riley1965

Who officially would wear this shoulder cord ?

The braided cords are called "aksalbanti", and they were worn by honor guards and parade troops in capitol and Hero cities.

There were two varieties, silver- and gold-colored. Each end had a cord loop, one attached underneath the shouldermark, the other looped around a jacket button. The only adornmets on these were long metal tapers at the ends of cords, which dangled from the jacket button loop. The airborne troops pictured in a previous post illustrate the silver variety. The gold variety usually adorned officer-cut uniforms.

Another picture, with what appear to be silver cords, although the winter coats ("shinel") are officer-style.

More silver cords. The uniform is enlisted cut -- you can tell by the quality of the cloth and the jacket collar style.

Here is a picture of a KGB honor guard at Lenin's Mausoleum. In this shot, the officer-style winter coat with gold-colored cords. Notice the thin gold edging along the shouldermarks, which are not to be confused with officer cadet ("kursanti") shouldermarks.

Originally Posted by Nack

I get your question Riley--the person who jazzed up this uniform had to get the cords from somewhere, presumably a military store, so someone would have worn cords like these, so who was that?

If that is your question, my answer is I'm not sure. My guess is that the fancy shouldercords were hand-made from regular cords. Attached is a picture of paratroops wearing a single white cord--the cord on your tunic looks like it was made out of a few similar white cords.

My guess is ... curtain cords and tassels! :D

Demobilized conscripts jazzed up their uniforms, enough to make a Gilbert & Sullivan character proud, to impress their family and friends when they returned from military service. Common embellishments included tie tacks with a kopek coin soldered on it (for the Soviet crest, or "gerb"), shiny metal letters to replace the rubber "CA" on the shouldermarks, embroidered edging/piping. For some, the glitterier -- the better!

As long as they looked reasonably normal when they left their units, officers usually didn't inquire too closely -- it would have been considered petty and churlish to rob them of their minor glories on such a happy occasion.