Hussar uniforms through the ages

[@ThePainterr]

FM August von Mackensen does the 1st Leib Totenkopf Hussars uniform a great service......one of my favourite Prussian hero's .....[from an East Prussian].

[@knutclau705]

Lovely, served myself in the 1st btn Panzeraufkl ärer Bundeswehr (Black Brunswick Hussars / 17th Hussars Imperial German Army) and a Saber fencer (sport/ academic student fencing/ hema & even learned horsemaship, but thats a different story, as I reenacted as a highland piper... chuckle) I definetely admire your style!

[@rivercyr3537]

It has been close to 5 years and he's still replying to comments, legend.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Haha, to an immortal hussar time is immaterial 😅

[@ncrtrooper113]

@@Theduckwebcomics why did hussars where a jacket on the side of their uniform?

[@J12387]

@@ncrtrooper113 they are called a pelisse and it was mainly to protect from Sabre cuts

[@ncrtrooper113]

@@J12387 thanks for the info!

[@knutclau705]

@@ncrtrooper113 the dilman was worn on the left shoulder for sake of a: ease b: deflect sword slashes on the reinarm...

[@deusexrockina]

I'd love to see you rocking the white powdered wig and leather hot pants uniform! HAHA! Uniform on point as usual!

[@Theduckwebcomics]

HAHA!

[@Bannermann]

Absolutely Stunning Uniform.👌🏻

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou xx

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

Thumbs up for the Totenkopf, Deaths Head, NO MERCY! Also is that all natural materials, not plastic, or any of the sort and what supplement did you use for the hat

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Alexandru von Carstein Zarovich Cantacuzino Yep, no plastic. I hate it. You can only get the real feel and weight from using metal. The busby is made from the ostrich feathers from a Scot's Piper feather bonnet. I made it that way because I liked the look more that bear fur. One of the guys in the Bare Naked Ladies video for One Week wears a similar hat and I admired it 😂 I've since made a shako which is a lot more authentic.

[@frankishempire2322]

"Deaths Head, NO MERCY!" The actual meaning was "loyal to the end"

[@bismarckbismarck6352]

Man that uniform is beautiful. The Dolman style of jackets have always appealed to me. But i can imagine it´s a pain in the ass getting it all on.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou! It used to be but these days I get it in and off very quickly 😅 In fact the other day I was knocked unconcious in a riding accident and I totally stripped it all off, put it all neatly away and dressed myself in my normal clothes again by the time my brain started working again 😅

[@Kadavish]

What beautiful uniform!!!

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou!

[@manuelkong10]

Hessian boots or Hungarian? The boots looked GREAT----the pants look like someone is going to a dance and the britches with austrian knots etc looked GREAT too

[@Theduckwebcomics]

The boys I typically wear are ankle boots, these wear popular from around the end of the Napoleonic war, to match the civilian fashions of the day.

[@oreo3740]

Didn’t germany end up introducing Field gray hussar uniforms in 1908 that were worn with the standard webbing?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

I don't know about that variation but it sounds about right for the timeline.

[@manuelkong10]

Where did you get your beautiful uniform made? And you look GREAT in it

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou! I had to assemble it myself from parts. The jackets were initially made by Sutkers UK but I had to do a lot of alterations and additions.

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

well done buddy love this stuff and to see it so well done thank you very much .....its very close to show how it was they all had there style right...

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou!

[@Oialca]

Nice work. I just watched the new war and peace by the bbc and it made me a little obsessed with all the uniforms.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou! I love them too. I haven't yet seen that adaptation though myself, but I look forward to it.

[@Oialca]

Drunkduck it's on Netflix, definitely worth a watch.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

I'll look out for it!

[@leogazebo5290]

Cool stuff bro, looks amazing.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou ❤️

[@richardthompson9836]

Very interesting. I would liked to have seen this done with a different background that does not compete with the uniform.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Good suggestion

[@douglasbailey9055]

So what is the style of shirt worn underneath. I guess a mandarin collar. But was there a neck scarf?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

@@douglasbailey9055 you need a high collar so that the neck stock covers it. At the time in the Napoleonic era the fashion was always cloth around the neck 😅 Enlisted infantry would have leather buckeld on neck stocks, wheress in my calvary offer style I'm wearing a lace up black Linnen neck stock as well as a black cotton fabric button up one I made.

[@fanyechao2761]

Hello, I am interested in recreation too, about pre-WW1 uniform. May you tell me how to make a pelisse?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

I can't really... You've got to search for patterns. It's a simple jacket pattern but you have to know how to sew. The simplest way to do it is to buy a vintage british mess jacket like this: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Royal-Fusiliers-Officers-1973-Savile-Row-Tailored-Mess-Dress-Uniform-QFC-/142206471650?hash=item211c2a8de2 Then sew on the fur and the braid. The braid is easy to add, it takes a lot of pinning though to get it all correctly laid out. Fur takes careful planing and thinking to work out how to attach it. The trick is to sew a backing onto it. It is hard to get matching buttons of the size and shape you need. I had mine custom made. I could sell you some but they're silver. Most hussar buttons are usually gold/brass.

[@fanyechao2761]

like those www.pinterest.com/pin/408701734909125883/ www.pinterest.com/pin/525443481507498886/

[@fanyechao2761]

there are fewer braids, but i dont know how the top braids(4 of them) linked and used

[@fanyechao2761]

www.pinterest.com/pin/300193131392726829/

[@Theduckwebcomics]

What you have there isn't a classic hussar pelisse and dolman, that's what's known as an "Atilla". Which was a much later style from the latter half of the 19th century. Those jackets are actually much easier to make because they're looser in style. The braiding is very simple too. It's hard to get the button/toggle fittings in metal but you can carve them out of wood and paint them.

[@jesper1968]

I think the curls of hair in front of the ears are called cadenettes, the French hussars during the revolutionary period and early empire had them as well. Also, the ridiculous parade uniform with the leopard pelts and everything, was part of the parade dress of a Prussian guard regiment called von Zieten. These hussars only wore the leopard pelts during parades. On campaign they just wore normal dolmans and pelisses.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

I welcome the info! Thank you for that Jesper. I always want to know more about hussars. The knowledge is out there, but since they're not as popular anymore it's not as easy to come by.

[@Kyle-ir6ij]

One issue you have a french hussar tunic but close enough but Napoleonic war busby for Prussia actually a shako with black feathers on top with jolly Roger skull

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Haha! The uniform is my own idealised creation, taking features I want from wherever, which is actually ironically more period accurate than something that follows a manual precisely because an officer with wealth and a bit of rank would tend to do exactly that in the field if they had the independence and freedom to do that. That's not a shako but my own style of busby (or Kolpak or Pelzmutze) made with the feathers from a Scot's Piper's feather bonnet. The skull is a is a standard Prussian totenkopf. I DO however also have a bell-top shako with a feathered crest, and the skull on that is from the black Brunswickers, another Napoleonic German force- not a jolly roger :)

[@hardalarboard8876]

How does the “Small Coat” Stay on your Shoulder PS: I’m getting a British 4th Hussar uniform styled around 1815 And I don’t know how to Add it I do have a cap line though.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

That's fantastic! I hope it fits well! The pelisse has two lines that come from the collar and join with a simple loop and toggle. Mine are attached from just inside the collar. Some are attached in the outside. The lines can be attached directly around the neck like a cape or around and under he opposite arm,it depends on the style of the unit who wore them.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Have a look at the photos here and it will give you a good idea of how it works: m.facebook.com/pg/hussaruniform/photos/?tab=album&album_id=559171474231674

[@facuarg7813]

Amazing uniform!! where did you get it? or you made it?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Yeah, pretty much all made :)

[@theaverageportugues4200]

The first one looks so fucking good

[@woff1959]

Hi! Hussars go back to the 1450s, under King Matthias of Hungary. A bit further than the 17th C.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

The light cavalry style of Hussars that became an international phenomena is what I was talking about here: the ones my uniform are based on. Sorry for the confusion. The earlier heavy cavalry style was quite different and only existed in Hungary and Poland.

[@woff1959]

@@Theduckwebcomics Not to be picky, but the 15thC Hussars were also light cavalry. Some wore mail shirts and helmets, but they were not in any way heavy cavalry, Later, Poland converted them into a type of "heavies". A quote from King Mathias from c. 1450, IIRC, in a letter to the Pope, refers to: equites levis armaturae, quos hussarones appellamus” (Cavalry lightly armoured, whom We call hussars.) Cheers!

[@imtherain]

i love hussars side jacket looks warm

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Uniq7 it is :)

[@deusexrockina]

Uniq7 Side Jacket is super stylish!

[@jimihendrix3479]

Rhiannon Oliver yes it is

[@jacksonguillory8114]

I'm starting to think this guy might be Robert irwins alter ego 😂

[@clockworkmultiverse92]

I believe the first hussars originated in Hungary during the late 15th century, and such attire was ubiquitous with light cavalry in Eastern Europe long before it was adopted by the Prussians during the reign of Frederick the Great.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Indeed. I mention is in one of my videos. The black and silver combination however is very specific to Prussia. Hussars were generally unusually colourful, which made this style so unusual. The only others like them were the French Death's head hussars, but they didn't last very long. The original Hungarian outfits actually came from the normal style of civilian noble clothing that was popular back then, rather than coming from the military. You can see it in a lot of paintings- which also put to bed the myth that any of the styles associated with the uniform were for utility in battle: the busbys being a type of fur helmet, the braid being used to deter sabre cuts or the pelisse on the shoulder being used as a type of cloth shield etc, all complete nonsense because they all simply came from common fashion- though they could be adapted to those uses afterwards it wasn't the reason for their existence.

[@clockworkmultiverse92]

That is true. The Polish and Hungarian aristocracies wore very hussar and/ or uhlan like clothing by default.

[@Akitlosz]

The hussar uniform is not ceremonial but effective in battle. That is why the hussars, - developed by Hungary against the dangerous Ottoman army in the 15th century - have spread in Europe. Buttons and cords provide some protection against cold weapons, swords, lancers, bayonetts. The little jacket on the left shoulder as well, like a shield. The big shako protects the head somewheat without heavy metals. This is a light cavalry. Tight pants can be worn under cavalry boots even under infantry boots too. The Austrian infantry wore western-style loose pantallons, but the Hungarian infantry wore tight pants like the hussars. In the same army. :-)

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Hussars began as heavy cavalry, like the version that's famous in Poland. The Hungarian hussars eventually became light cavalry but the uniform wasn't about practicality, it's based purely on what the nobel classes wore at the time: a jacket with braiding and many buttons, a similar jacket with added fur lining worn as a cape over one shoulder, tight breaches with decorative braiding, tight calf high boots, and a fur cap with a bag that falls down one side. Civilians wore that as their daily clothes, you can see it in many paintings of the time. As to protection- the original fur kolpacks (fur hat) weren't that protective. Hussars later wore a Flugmütze or mirlton cap, which was conical and had a couple of flags wrapped around it. Usually they'd have a white wig on underneath. They didn't start wearing the shako till the early 19th century, and that was because all the rest of the army wore them too. In the 19th century the fur kolpacks (busbys) came back into fashion as well, they were more structured than the earlier versions and more protective. The cording on the jackets wasn't substantial enough to offer any real protection and a sabre could easily find its way in around the small buttons... The pelisse on the shoulder offered some protection but it's more a happy accidentally rather than intentional (based as it was on old civilian fashion). Many Hussars wouldn't even wear them in battle. Hussar boots were originally soft leather and not protective.

[@Akitlosz]

@@Theduckwebcomics Hussar uniforms were not cheap. It would not have spent so many countries in Europe, so much money to set up hussar regiments if they had not been effective. Every other light cavalry was cheaper. Each other cavalry regiment had two tailors. Only the hussar regiments had four tailors because of twice as much work. The protection provided by the hussar uniform was not enough, of course, but it was more than nothing, and was more than that provided by the other light cavalry uniforms. The buttons, the cords, the jacket are NOT only decorations. The jacket was worn, of course in cold or bad weather. The jacket protected the left arm holding the bridle in battles. If the expensive hussar regiments had not been effective, they would not have existed. Hussars spread around the world because they were effective. Somewhat even in 1914. See: Battle of Limanova 1914.

[@Akitlosz]

@@Theduckwebcomics kzbin.info/www/bejne/paaqoWdqgruBjtE "Few" uniforms, mostly hussars: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f32ulmN5gbF3g9E

[@DouglasBailey-i3u]

Do you have a recommendation for a source?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

@@DouglasBailey-i3u on hussar uniforms? Ahhh... I read so many books and looked at and collected a lot of old photos and art... It's a huge subject. A good easy place to start would be the books by Osprey publishing: Napoleon's Hussars, and Hungarian Hussar. You can find other hussar stuff by them they're a good overview of the subject with great illustrations.

[@DouglasBailey-i3u]

@Theduckwebcomics not exactly, I'm looking for a company that produces the shirts.

[@hm_nn_5633]

Do you have the French curraissier uniform plus the helmet ?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

I don't, but I'd love the helmet! I'm a good size for a hussar at 5 foor 5 but a bit small for a Curraissier XD

[@randallkoch6183]

I would have liked to see more different examples of other uniforms. I would rather have seen the fellow show detailed pictures and explain what they were all about. Still a good show.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Thankyou. I should do that. It's just that I really don't like video editing 😅

[@shaficm1297]

What is the name of this dress

[@Theduckwebcomics]

The outfit is called a hussar uniform.

[@jtnelson8828]

Is that napoleonic? And what kind of sword are u wearing? Model type?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Roughly Napoleonic, although this style is more decorated, reminiscent of the period just after Napoleon. The sabre is my own creation: a 1796 light cavalry style blade and grip with an 1821 style 3 bar guard... And a skull on the river that goes through the ears. Later British Indian sabres marry a 1796 blade with an 1821 guard but they also have an 1821 grip as well.

[@jtnelson8828]

@@Theduckwebcomics can you do a video on it? I'd love to get a better look at it

[@adamkornacki606]

Were You get that uniform and how much it costs?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

I acquired the pieces from all over the place , made parts, heavily customised parts and had other parts made. All in all in comes to a few thousand dollars.

[@e.d.gremore7685]

yo you gotta tell me where to find that hat

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Hahaha, it's custom made by me :D I could explain how in a video

[@e.d.gremore7685]

@@Theduckwebcomics I’d watch it!

[@ToasterStrudelFan]

Never lose your smile

[@antoniofarinaccio541]

Great uniform, I most get one.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

You must!

[@holgerschmidt2297]

i may sound dumb but where did you get the uniform (i know im late..)

[@Theduckwebcomics]

@@holgerschmidt2297 I put it together over a long period. The jackets were originally made by Sutlers UK but I modified them heavily, adding extra braid, buttons and fur. The trousers are from a British Lancer, and so on 😅 It took a long time, lots of money and sewing.

[@holgerschmidt2297]

@@Theduckwebcomics okay thanks

[@manuelkong10]

a white plume would look good on the L side of your busby

[@Theduckwebcomics]

You're absolutely right, that's a great suggestion!

[@neilsanghvi5229]

I think you'll find the 'hot pants' of mid 18th century hussars only appear so to your modern eyes. I remember thinking the same thing as a schoolboy in the 1990s, but bothered to read some history books and modelling magazines. I found out that they are actually thigh high stockings worn over the breeches. The powdered wigs and curled hair was the height of noble fashion at the time of the Seven Years War, and allowed for a better fit for the mirliton, which did not have either chin scales, cords or laces to prevent their falling off. I would be careful about labelling 18th century hussar dress as 'stupid' on the grounds that it differs so much to your 19th century version. Hussar uniform evolved gradually from its Hungarian antecedents over the centuries, based on a combination of what was considered outlandish and developments of civil and military fashion within and between European states.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Either way that version of the hussar uniform was quite a long way from the original Hungarian version! It was more about adapting it to the current European fashions of the day, which always happened to some degree but perhaps then more than at other times. The late 18th and early 19th century versions were closer to the spirit of the hussar style. But everyone picks their favourite and there's no harm in that! There are hundreds of years of variations to choose from.

[@FloofyMinari]

Are we the baddies?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Luis R. Ha, yeah, the totenkopf has been misunderstood because of the waffen SS Nazis who stole it from the German army. People think it means "death squad" and "no mercy" and many stupid ideas like that when in reality the skull was about the person who wore it: it meant that soldier would be loyal to his homeland till death. The skull wasn't a promise of death to the enemy but to one's self: "I will fight for my country even if it means my own life" That's why they were called the Life Gaurd. The French had a similar unit of hussars, who lived up to their name. After their first outing there weren't enough left alive to maintain a unit so they were disbanded.

[@robertbrodie5183]

The brynswick troops post 1806 wore it in honor of there fallen duke

[@OmegaTrooper]

Hussar unifroms were always the best

[@Theduckwebcomics]

True

[@nolan2664]

You forgot Jimi Hendrix’s coat

[@richardaigner2330]

Great German Army ever😊

[@robertbrodie5183]

Please restrain your prussian boot stomping otherwise very interesting

[@Theduckwebcomics]

HAHA! :D

[@percyblok6014]

Nice costume. They're all pretty ridiculous though...you know this right?

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Not at all by any stretch ☺️ you're simply thinking in terms of a modern context with current fashions. But the way we dress would be ridiculous to people 200 years in the past. Modern US army Field uniforms would be a joke to soldiers in WW1. No style of clothing is objectively ridiculous, it's all contextual.

[@bonelessvegetal818]

imagine wearing a nazi uniform - this was made by the napoleonic uniform gang

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Hmm yeah, the Aallemagne SS outfit stole its design influence from this historical Prussian standard. I believe the they did that in order to appropriate some of the legitimacy and cache that the uniform theme embodied.

[@-_redacted_]

adidas pants

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Not enough stripes 🤣 but yeah, in a way... Striped trousers originated with Hussar breaches in Hungary about 400 years ago. It's what eventually led to the fashion of having stripes on military trousers in general. That later evolved into the stripes on training clothes which became tracksuits. The addidas stripes are simply the modern remnant of a very old tradition. They can't even remember when they were copied from any longer.

[@markstokes3685]

Pathetic comments on aesthetics, keep to description rather than fashion guru!

[@Theduckwebcomics]

Aesthetics are 80% of what a hussar was I'm afraid. :) If it wasn't for that they literally would not have existed past the 1600s. The troop type ONLY poliferated because of how they looked. The actual fighting techniques of them as a light cavalry type were duplicated exactly by many units, they were completely redundant in that regard. Without a proper understanding of the aesthetics you can't hope to understand hungarian style hussars.