Per this old Dick Tracy comic;. Are there still policemen who dress this way with the riding style pants and an exterior shoulder strap + belt holding the gun and bullets? Not sure what’s going on with the leggings, and if they are high boots or gaiters of some kind.
The Italian Police seem to dress like that, or something similar. They look like they are wearing gigantic leather riding boots. They also seem to be driving a Lamborghini. Best police force ever.
I have always loved the old police/military officer style uniform with the knee-high riding boots, breeches, leather strap, billed cap, etc. Unfortunately in the US I think it has developed an association with the Nazis, so I think it is now quite out of style. Whenever I draw policemen in my drawings I always have them wear the old-style uniform though.
Continental European police uniforms always struck me as slightly more militaristic looking than UK and Ireland uniforms (even when the RUC here in Northern Ireland was fully tooled up for the Troubles)
The Massachusetts State Police wear that sort of costume.
Lots of departments have the jodhpur pants for motorcycle officers.
Lots of departments still use the over-the shoulder strap. For example: Main Page
Damn few have single bullets in loops on a belt. But that’s more a matter of the type of weapon carried than a matter of style.
Just a note - the belt with shoulder strip is a Sam Browne belt.
In that picture, are you sure that policeman is wearing pants?
That style of uniform used to be common for officers riding motorcycles. The boots were to protect the legs and ankles.
The belt arrangement is called a “Sam Browne” belt and the cross strap was to transfer some of the equipment weight from the belt to the shoulder. http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/sam_browne.htm
The belts became unpopular with police officers when they discovered that during a fight, if the bad guy got hold of the shoulder strap he had you until he was done with you. :eek:
Most police officers that wore ties as part of their uniform wore clip on ties for the same reason. I was a reserve officer for a short time back in the late 60’s and I was told about the tie issue back then.
I’d think mounted police would wear the jods. Funny, but I didn’t take note the last time I saw one.
The New Jersey State Police look a bit like that picture from the waist up. They do wear straight legged pants with a yellow stripe and not jods.
And of course, the much heralded and famed Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The stereotypical policeman’s uniform in my mind is the double-breasted tunic coat with cadet collar and shiny buttons. Does any police force still wear those?
(er … besides the RCMP?)
those are dress uniforms. We were in Port Aurthur/Fort William(?) (before it became Thunder Bay) and saw some Mounties going to a cafe for lunch. They just wore greenish jackets and trousers. Very disappointing, they didn’t look anything likeNelson Eddy.
Sure. Just google “Tom of Finland.” Plenty of cops there wearing that sorta garb.
Just a warning for those not familiar with the name: DO NOT GOOGLE TOM OF FINLAND AT WORK!!
Or if you’re squeamish about explicit homosexual activities…
I think some still use it as a sort of ceremonial full-dress uniform. But in normal usage most departments have switched to more practical environment-appropriate outfits.
Costume? :eek: