Ladies Wool Peacoats

[Peacoat]

I think that first picture may have been photoshopped, back in the early days of photoshopping, as Marines didn't hang out with sailors, unless forced to; they just didn't.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Could be, it was long before my time!

 

[SpeedRcrX]

Serious ? It reminds me the "Dahu" legend
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahu

Serious, I don't think a company like Dalmard would give silly information on TV

 

[David Minton]

Initially I thought there were no enlisted or NCO females in the Navy, but I thought it best to ask someone who was actually in the Navy. Here is his response:

"They were called WAVES, don't remember what that stands for. They were kept separate, had their basic training, barracks, they did jobs such as admin clerks, lab techs, etc. No sea duty or any hazardous duty."

So, the question becomes, were they issued the smaller sizes of peacoats, or were they issued a female version of the peacoat? I imagine a preliminary question would be, were they issued a peacoat at all? My wife is 5' 4" 117 lbs. and a size 34 is a bit large on her. A size 32 would probably be a good fit. If a size 32 is the smallest made, what would a woman wear who was smaller than my wife?

My service was Army, and I never saw a female in uniform the four years of my service. My branch was aviation which is a very small part of the Army, and I was always at a base with an airfield, which is even a smaller section of the Army.

I know this is an old thread, but thought an answer to your question would be of interest.

WAVES
Women did serve in the US Navy during WWII. The initial Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) were sworn in beginning in August 1942, following President Roosevelt's signing of the Navy Women’s Reserve Act on July 30, 1942. The WAVES had their own uniforms, manufactured under separate contracts from men's uniforms, with no common regulation items shared between the genders.

Women's Overcoats
The WAVES overcoat is more similar to a men's bridge coat than a peacoat. It differs from a bidge coat in that it has two rows of four buttons rather than two rows of five buttons, had darts in the bust area, and lacks loops for shoulder boards.

The coats were made from a wool of similar weight to period bridge coats, which was typically lighter weight than the men's overcoats (i.e. peacoat). In the back there was to be a half belt, or either single or two piece construction. Though, this particular coat lacks any help belt. The other I own has a two-piece half belt, similar to a men's bridge coat.

Women's Sizing
All WAVES coats I have encountered had size tags, though they are "vintage sizes" from the days before vanity sizing. Subtract around 10 sizes from the vintage tag to translate to a modern size (e.g. my wife wears WAVES size 16, while 4–6 petite in modern size). WAVES items are most typically found in sizes 10–14. While they exist, I have never personally encountered any WWII era items over vintage size 16.

The above image is an example from my collection (please excuse the poor photo). Note the buttons are not correct. It was common after the war for veterans to wear military coats, as they were well made, and expensive to replace. Uniform Regulations did require all insignia and military button be removed, however, so coats are often found with civilian buttons. I have not gotten around to restoring original buttons.

WAVES Tags
WWII era coats may be easily recognized by WAVES or US Women's Naval Reserve labels, though there were some others. The tags, when new, were a light blue referred to as "Reserve Blue."

On Collecting
As with all WAVES items, the coats are much harder to find than even men's examples. In comparison to the over 4 million men who served in the US Navy during WWII, only around 130,000 women served in the WAVES. These coast are highly sought after by WAVES reenacts, military collectors. I also own one SPARS coats. The SPARS were the US Coast Guard equivalent to the WAVES, and as with their male counterpart, shared nearly all the same uniform items with the NAVY. Generally the only difference will be labels and insignia. With only around 10,000 women in the SPARS, these items are often 2–5 times the cost of similar WAVES items.

My first peacoat purchase in 2012 eventually led to a cross over into military collecting and research. While I have lost track I have maybe twenty to thirty peacoat, mostly WWII era through early 1960s.

The coat pictured above was probably the first WAVES item I purchased, which was for my wife to wear as a winter coat. Bellow are later acquisitions worn by my wife and daughter. The photograph is aboard USS North Carolina, depicting a WAVES Lieutenant (O-3 for non-Navy) and a "Junior WAVE" touring the ship while in port prior to post war refit (c. Fall 1945.)

 

[Peacoat]

Thanks for the information. Now to commit it to memory as this thread will undoubtedly get buried again.

 

[David Minton]

Thanks for the information. Now to commit it to memory as this thread will undoubtedly get buried again.

My pleasure. As an added bonus, a photo of WWII Navy flight jackets and air crew trivia I hope you will appreciate @Peacoat.

The first female air crew members in the US military* were a group of eighty WAVES officers trained during WWII as Air Navigators. They earned and wore Naval Air Navigator wings, qualified alongside men in both cross-country and trans-ocean duty, though primarily acted as instructors.

This photo from my collection is dated July 13, 1945, and depicts a WAVES Navigator Instructor preparing to accompany a crew on a night operation flight of a PB4Y-1 "Liberator," the Navy ASW variant of the Consolidated B-24 heavy bomber.

* While the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) made a great contribution, they did not achieve full military status until 1979.