I have two. One does have three red stripes, some kind of engineering symbol (?) and an eagle over that. I guess I’ll remove it. Like i said I just never gave it any thought and have never had anyone give me a second look whether I’m wearing it*…an Ike jacket or an East German jacket.
*Until recently
Here is Old Navy selling them as men’s coats. No mention of military, just coats being sold. Not even remotely ‘stolen valor’. :rolleyes:
When I was discharged from the Navy, I ripped the tags off my dungarees and wore them to rags. Best fitting jeans ever.
So did I but people today are somewhat different. So many have served overseas in the last 10+ years and continue to wear their gear after separation that a lot of folks do indeed jump to conclusions. I don’t have much current issue but what I do have I limit to working on my own property; in public, the few times I do wear army surplus, I either wear very old gear (Korea or before) or foreign surplus clothing.
That’s kind of a relief. It never occurred to me before this thread that people would consider it a military style; I wear my Land’s End peacoat because I like heavy coats made of natural fiber (not that I’m a hippie, I just hate the noise of whatever puffy jackets are made of when it hisses against itself). But then, I don’t know from fashion, and periodically have to be told things like, “No, honey, you can’t wear a tie with a short-sleeve shirt, I don’t care if it’s button-down.” So I thought maybe this was yet another rule I didn’t know.
I figure you know fashion better than me, so I’m taking your word for it!
Just in case you aren’t joking, a buttoned-down collar is not (generally) worn with a tie. It’s an informal sports shirt, possibly worn with a sports coat (aha!), sans tie. For my money, a buttoned down collar should only be worn under a sweater vest/tennis sweater kind of thing. Casual Friday and all that. Ivy League “well, I can’t just show up in a dammed undershirt, can I?!” attire. Pish posh. A buttoned-down collar is very informal.
But people in the U.S. sometimes say “buttoned-down shirt” when they really mean “a nice-ish **Oxford **shirt.” As in, not a t-shirt, or polo, or turtleneck, but something semi-tailored that they would want to wear with a tie. It’s confusing, I know. And then we would have to discuss collars. (rubs hands together enthusiastically) Spread collars, point collars, club, English points, cutaways…and what sort of tie the different knots go with. I love this shit.
Honestly, my favorite is a long point collar with minimal spread and a narrow tie knot (not quite “Goodfellas,” but close). It is so damned flattering. I wish women’s fashion was so simple.
One other thing: short sleeved “dress shirt”? Unless you are enlisted military, don’t even try. Wear a polo, or a guayavera/cubana, or even a Hawaiian shirt instead. Otherwise you’re going to look like Homer Simpson. 
In South Africa it’s specifically illegal to wear the current uniform of the SANDF, including the camo. Wearing the old nutria one of the Apartheid-era SADF is fine. It might get you looked at funny for other reasons (in some places, it’d be like wearing an SS uniform in Tel Aviv) but is not illegal.
That would be the rank markings for a Petty Officer, First Class (E-6) What rating is what the symbol is for. Here are the ratings symbols for Engineering, Deck, Aviation, and Construction divisions.
Here is a Wiki article with more detail than you’d probably like, and another with the news that as of September this year, the whole system may go by the board. “The fleet at large did not respond to this favorably.”
I don’t wear surplus, but I do carry a German army surplus rucksack as luggage. It has garnered me smiles and good vibes at airports and such. Can’t shake the notion that someday someone will see the care and instructions patch auf deutsch and expose me as a deeply planted German spy.