Rockin' that Cold War STASI look!

[Story]

I know what I'm going to be this coming Halloween.

MSNBC's PhotoBlog noted this amazing exhibition at Berlin's Morgen Contemporary: A series of undated photographs from the old East German Ministry for State Security—aka the Stasi—shows how spies would dress incognito. Photographer Simon Menner put together the exhibit and says, "These were used during courses on how to dress up and blend into society. They seem pretty absurd now, but it was meant seriously -- this is evil stuff."

http://gothamist.com/2011/08/10/east_german_spy_or_hipster.php

See also
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/stasi-spies-in-disguise-1312985721-slideshow/;_ylt=AmXYicaxadET1ojAspOJg3htzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTExNGUxZnBrBHBvcwM1BHNlYwNFZGl0b3JzIFBpY2tzIEZyZWUgSFRNTA--;_ylg=X3oDMTJyMDM1NjlyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZGUxOWI2YzYtZGQ2MS0zNGYzLTlmYzUtMGI5M2Q0ODExM2MxBHBzdGNhdAN1cwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3#


He looks like he's headed out to a Selector concert.

 

[John in Covina]

I am shaking my head in disbelief. I have a feeling that there was something in the food and water on the other side of the Iron Curtain that was able to remove the dress cool and look cool gene. Are there those that find the uncool look as the new cool?

 

[Tomasso]

It's amazing that those goofs could keep that wall up as long as they did.

 

[30s sliphorn]

Just exactly WHAT crowd were they trying to blend into? :eusa_doh:

 

[C-dot]

The white shoes would stick out like a sore thumb in any era. lol

 

[IndianaWay]

Boy, this is definitely an "it's not funny, and yet it is" moment. I keep thinking of the line from the 90's "Sister Act" movie where all the nuns are in a Vegas nightclub - "Try to blend in."

 

[Hereward]

I sat in a pub in the former East Germany (they call it Middle Germany) and my friend told me that the man sitting behind us was a typical Stasi member (meaning he had been when there was one). 'How do you know?' I asked (although in German), and he replied that the suit was what they all wore. So people mostly knew who these sort of Stasi officers were and probably because they wanted to be known.

 

[davidraphael]

Ha. Looks more like a 1970s British undercover TV cop to me...

now, this is Stasi chic (further down the linked article)!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I sat in a pub in the former East Germany (they call it Middle Germany) and my friend told me that the man sitting behind us was a typical Stasi member (meaning he had been when there was one). 'How do you know?' I asked (although in German), and he replied that the suit was what they all wore. So people mostly knew who these sort of Stasi officers were and probably because they wanted to be known.

You mean like Arnold's "Gumby" suit in Red Heat?

Now this one looks like a nice Saxon boy.

I should explain that one of my neighbors when I was growing up was an old German guy from Berlin. He said that they, the Berliners, hated Saxons because they were, according to my neighbor, second only to the Prussians when it came to a militaristic mindset and, not surprisingly, in the former DDR a large percentage of the Border Guards and Stasi came from Saxony. Also, not trusting the Berliners, the East German government brought in workers from Saxony to build the Berlin Wall.

 

[Stray Cat]

Mwahahahahaaaa! lol

*falls down on the floor and keeps screaming*
I just can't stop laughing! lol

 

[Shangas]

Good god...I studied the Stasi once for something I can no longer remember...But how the hell did they ever expect to 'blend in' with anything with clothing like THAT?

Judging from how shockingly ugly it is, I reckon it's from the 1970s and 1980s...

 

[John in Covina]

The 1970's did not get to the East until the 1980's. Canada and parts of the US midwest have similar time warp conditions.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The 1970's did not get to the East until the 1980's. Canada and parts of the US midwest have similar time warp conditions.

[video=youtube;QPOMBdO4dyA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPOMBdO4dyA&feature=related[/video]

 

[DanielJones]

That is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. The one in the fur ushanka and coat looks like a porn star in disguise.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Corky]

Back in the late '60's -- here in the U.S. of A. -- FBI agents had dress code that required them to wear an olive suit, white shirt and black tie when on duty.

I knew a few guys who were agents back then and I can still see them sitting at the back of Anti-Vietnam War meetings, rallies, and films wearing that outfit, and trying to blend in with a room filled with people dressed like characters on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

 

[Fly Boy]

I think Bowie did it better!

 

[Mr. Hallack]

[huh] It's almost unbelieveable to me. Seriously they look like crap halloween costumes from the 70's or 80's.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

It was all part of their nefarious scheme! Those were the decoys. The REAL Stasi were able to blend in better because everyone was too busy looking at the fake agents.

I hate to think that part of the Evil Empire TM was that badly dressed.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Hahahaha. Unbelievable. But then...Most of the people in east germany at that time where dressed very badly.

 

[W-D Forties]

You mean like Arnold's "Gumby" suit in Red Heat?

Now this one looks like a nice Saxon boy.

I should explain that one of my neighbors when I was growing up was an old German guy from Berlin. He said that they, the Berliners, hated Saxons because they were, according to my neighbor, second only to the Prussians when it came to a militaristic mindset and, not surprisingly, in the former DDR a large percentage of the Border Guards and Stasi came from Saxony. Also, not trusting the Berliners, the East German government brought in workers from Saxony to build the Berlin Wall.

The guy in the red cardi reminds me of Herr Lipp from The League of Gentlemen!