Getting Dressed During World War I: A Fascinating Look at How Soldiers, Nursers & Others Dressed During the Great War

Getting Dressed During World War I: A Fascinating Look at How Soldiers, Nursers & Others Dressed During the Great War Not to diminish the nightmare of mortars and shrapnel, but as evidenced by Crow’s Eye Productions’ period-accurate dressing video above, one of the greatest horrors of WWI was wet wool. Decades before the invention of Gore-Tex, Polar Fleece, and other high-performance, all-weather gear, British soldiers relied on their woolies from head to toe. An army of female knitters sent gloves, scarves, balaclavas, and other such “comforts” to the front, in addition to seamless socks designed to last their boys three whole marching days inside their ankle-high leather boots. Alas, no amount of waxing and oiling could keep the trenches’ freezing cold puddles from seeping through those boots. Nothing’s worse than the scent of three layers of wet wool when you’re catching your death in sodden puttees. The regiments whose uniform bottoms consisted of kilts had it part

Added 22 Jul 2026