Nostalgia of uniforms

[windows2thesoul]

Hello friends!

Just recently I have been looking into different uniforms from the 18th century (both British and American). What resonates with me the most is the color of the British Navy uniform. Since a small child I remember wearing a uniform close to the one in Lord Nelson's painting (who was post-captain at the time):

http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/images/trafalgar/nelson-post-captain.jpg

I'm not saying he's my reincarnation- but someone like him. What's fascinating is that I am not British in this life, in fact I was born in America during the early 80's but I have a lot of interests that have to do with England.

Alas, my search continues for the lost captain whom might have died in battle and his picture was never painted.

-Royal Blue

 

[Jody]

Hi, RB, welcome to the forum!


That particular uniform resonates with me, too -- I find it rather "dashing" ...


And it could well be that I wore something fairly similar myself. A few years ago a little voice told me to look up a guy by the name of "John Paul Jones," who was an American Naval Captain during the Revolution, but would have wanted a British-looking uniform when he was commanding a small fleet to harass the British in Europe -- one of his tricks was to fly the British flag until just before battle. In fact, there's a story that a British captain actually encountered Jones's ship and came within shouting distance, warning him that John Paul Jones had been spotted in the area, and would he (John Paul Jones disguised as a British captain) lend him some gun powder?:laugh:


There doesn't seem to be much difference between uniforms amongst the commissioned officers. Do you remember specifically being a captain?

 

[Nightrain]

What resonates with me the most is the color of the British Navy uniform. Since a small child I remember wearing a uniform close to the one in Lord Nelson's painting (who was post-captain at the time)

Hi Royal Blue; and, welcome to the Forum!


It seems that most of the naval officers of the world wore some form of dark blue uniform, unlike the many varied color choices for their armies. This would make it hard to pin down what nation during the 18th Century you identify with. In addition, higher ranking naval officers of that period also had their uniforms designed and tailored to their own desires and specifications rather than following any official guidelines; thus making identification all the more difficult.


In cases like this all you can do is trust your intuition as to whether the navy was British, American, French, or some other identity. Paintings are a wonderful source of information about naval uniforms; but so many are in private collections and cannot be easily viewed, and many are no longer identified.


If I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[dr_what]

Alas, my search continues for the lost captain whom might have died in battle and his picture was never painted.

i'm sure you'll find him just keep searching. have you checked university libraries? when i was attending college, my university's library had rare books from back in the 1700s. you couldnt check them out, but you could look thru them. maybe try university libraries? you never know.


i love the British naval uniform, but i have like a nostalgic feeling for the army officer's one (the redcoat) --> http://www.britishbattles.com/images/british-officer.jpg


i wasnt in the British army, but i was involved with them in some sort i'm sure. i was female but i was a colonist, not British :/


same with the SS uniform. wont say much about that one, because it's touchy subject matter for a lot of people, but omg, i love it. always have since i was a little kid. --> http://www.surcompany.com/listing1-waffenss/ss-blk/ttnblkbw.jpg

 

[hydrolad]

To all who posted


I know roughly how you feel, but it's not a longing for a particular uniform, but a longing for a particular time in the history of England.


As I mentioned before in earlier posts, I believe that one of the Past Lives (PL) that I really remember well, through dreams I had as a child, was as one of the many young WWII RAF pilots who fought for (and died) for England against the Nazi's.


Ironic, though, I must of hated the German people so much in that PL, that in this life on my Father's side, his family was strongly German, even to the point where I learned German as a very small child.


I imagine my feelings might be different nowadays if I lived in the England of today, but I have a deep longing for the time period between WWI and WWII, best depicted by the movie "Chariots of Fire" and I would venture a guess, the new movie "The King's Speech" (which I have YET to watch!)


My only hope is that I continue to dream about this time period because (in spite of my death in that PL) I felt a contentment and a peace (through these dreams) that I have not come close to ever since!