DPM Buttons

Hi ALL. Cannot find reference to DPM shirt with small shiny buttons, maybe a civi.

shirt. Regards Jim.

Kiwi

Many thanks filupe. It's a keeper then.

The Kiwis went though a phase of slightly different variants of DPM uniforms during the 1990s. From what I've been told it was mostly due to lowest bidder rather than deliberate design changes.

I have two types with shiny buttons. One is pretty much bog standard DPM, the other has the black swapped out with dark brown. Both have non-pleated pockets, which sets yours apart from mine. Does yours have an arm pocket at all? On the right, perhaps?

Getting matching sets for 1990s Kiwi stuff is not easy.

Steve

Hi Steve. You got me thinking about that chocolate brown, so went looking and came up with another small shiny buttoned Kiwi shirt, some buttons have been replaced. But still has the black in the pattern. first pic is the original post 2nd is just a faded version. regards Jim.

N.B. pocket flap variations.

AND THE PLEATED POCKETS AND THE WIDER COLLARS! IT'S LIKE WHERE'S WALLY!

Thanks for the pics! The second one you posted is the typical design throughout the 1990s. Flat patch pockets with pointed exposed button pockets. The infamous Diesel type is similar, but the pockets are very slightly slanted as was the case with the very early 1980s type. Which means your first shirt is an outlier. Which has me thinking...

This is not Kiwi Evidence:

1. I have 10 NZ uniforms in my collection, not a single one has pleated pockets.
2. Not a single one of my uniforms has green cloth tags.
3. Not a single one of my uniforms has nomenclature "Shirt, Mans Jungle" on the label.

On the other hand, this is in the same cut as long worn British shirt, which is also called "Shirt, Mans Jungle", and green cloth labels are a near standard label for British items. So this shirt is far more consistent with being British than it is NZ. However, don't know of the Brits producing the WW2 style jungle shirt in DPM. Nor with shiny buttons.

Steve

I looked at these after my initial assessment and concur with Steve. Possibly a precursor to Tropical DPM? A test piece? To me it doesn't look like an early pattern of lightweight DPM but I don't profess to be an expert on 1960'-70's DPM patterns. I tried looking up an NSN country code for 092 but no joy there either. Perhaps a contract made piece for something like the Jamaican Defence Force??

Correction... 10 unique NZ uniforms + 2 unique NZ shirts. Just found two more that were put aside because I can't find trousers to match! They fit the description I made above about white labels, flat patch pockets, and not having British type nomenclature.

Filupe, the idea of this being an export is an excellent notion! I'll have to do some digging around, but it could be pre Gulf War Iraqi export as well as places like Jamaica, Bermuda, etc.

Steve

And so into the unknown box, thanks all. Jim.

Heh... hopefully you have the "unknown, but probably interesting enough to keep" bin and another "unknown, probably worth less than the shipping it cost to get it to me" bin. I think this one should go in the first bin!

Steve

the cut of the shirt brings to mind Dutch DPM uniform shirts

The label would be white and in Dutch, so that possibility is out. Also, they used solid color buttons, not shiny.

I think the best guess is British export to somewhere. Could be one of the Dominions, could be some country in Africa or the Middle East.

Steve

Thanks for everyone's input. regards Jim.