The NKVD is back in style, literally !

[deValcourt]

Your fascination with black uniforms is well known, however Soviet OGPU/NKVD/MVD didn’t had any black uniforms. With exception of short lived transportation police uniform in yearly twenties and in late forties – yearly fifties.
In entire OGPU/NKVD/MVD/MGB history leather attire (including leather coats) was never adapted or issued for soviet state security personnel, ever.

I'm not terribly concerned with historical accuracy when it comes to these long coats. I just like long black leather coats cut in the WWI or WWII style. Frankly, I couldn't care less if they are security services or not. If I want to slap on a OGPU patch on the sleeve because I like the way it looks, then I will. I just received a WWII US tan wool greatcoat that is exactly the style that I like. Will I try to make it look like a Soviet Security Services coat? Probably not. But if I do, it won't be for historical accuracy. I won't be trying to pass it off as something it's not (like some people). It will be for my personal taste - and the last time I checked, everybody is allowed that, regardless of what others may think.

Now, as far as your last statement about leather never being officially issued to security service personnel, that is mostly true (high-ranking officials from colonels to generals often requested their coats to be made of leather). However, the agents themselves had a fondness for them and usually got such coats through the air force or simply had them made as I did. Not having them issued and not wearing them as their uniforms are two different things since none of the security services - with the exception of the ones operating during WWII - were ever part of the military and had their own "uniform code" which, since no one has yet to produce one, could only be assumed to be like every other nation's intelligence organs and agents (as opposed to say, a desk sergeant) only has one "uniform" that they wears for specific occasions while the rest of the time he or she dresses in whatever they please, and it seems to have pleased many Soviet security personnel to wear long leather coats.


Phillip