There's forty shillings on the drum...
for those that volunteer to come...
To 'list and fight the foe today
Over the Hills and far away...
This would fit a UK size 8 10 to a small 12
So in the war against fast fashion, the endearing and enduring Regency military look with all its swagger & Romance revived in several decades of the late 20th Century stands in the front lines. But if you are looking here you already know this, and are thus an officer not an enlisted, and as such you are expected to purchase your own uniforms as to tradition! So no forty shillings for you sorry...!
This is a Rena Lange silk velvet jacket in dark green with black braiding which we think is mid to late 1990s. At this time women's fashion saw a revival of military jackets worn in a darker but as romantic with white frilly shirts and tight leather pants & boots, that lasted well in to the 21st century with bands like My Chemical Romance adopting such. Part of the reason for this was the success globally of the tv series 'Sharpe' played by Sean Bean whose integrity & fatalistic commitment despite his rebellious streak against inept authority struck a chord with millions. Sharpe's regiment, the 95th Rifles was a real regiment that had been formed to harrass, snipe, & scout in smaller groups, and as such they wore dark green not redcoats. Similarly the Rangers in the Revolutionary war in the Americas. So Sharpe brought these darker military looks in to the modern consciousness. Sergeant Pepper and Adam Ant it wasn't.
Brands like All Saints later popularized the look so much that it has endured to today and these dark archaic military jackets are now classic in our wardrobe, never to date.
Rena Lange is a German label Munich based whose origins begin in 1916, though the label didn't launch pret a porter globally until the early 1980s.
Their garments are exquisitely made; beautiful tailoring, attention to detail and rich sumptuous but 'conservative' colours a feature. So dark forest and moss green are frequently in their collections. So we can't let the French control the fashion high seas completely...Rena Lange's German label is as quality couture as it gets....especially when worn with a sense of British romantic military swagger...
Being silk velvet, part of the nature of the fabric is it marks easily with the nap, and while these can disappear with steaming (NEVER iron!) or a very gentle rub with a cloth damp (not wet!) with distilled water, some marks will stay. And those of us who love the fabric for its beauty accept that. This one has a slight mark on one of the elbows, though it wouldn't be enough to be an issue to me. But just so you know. If you know silk velvet you know this and it is still leagues better than tacky synthetic/crushed velvets (bleagh!). Such marks become part of the character as it catches the light: shimmering areas against the depths of the darkness of the fabric.
So accept that and you are good to go: this is still a very beautiful jacket, for evening wear formally or for that casual swagger with a frilly white shirt jeans & boots.
Background photo credits of Napoleonic/Regency period re-enactors Sergiu Duitriu (Fort George) &
Sander van der Wel (Netherlands) & Rifleman Jay.