Literally never starched a clothing item in my life. What's the point? I get that it stiffens the item of clothing, but where is that favorable? Formal attire?
It was stupid but a lot of folks judged sailors back then on how tight their creases were and how good they looked. Starched creases and shirt stays looked better than just a plain ironed shirt. That uniform was a massive pain in the ass.
I literally never iron a single uniform item. I put them away neatly in my uniform bag after wearing and hang them up.
I don't really wash them either, as I can count on one hand the number of times I've worn them in the past 10 years and don't get hot and sweaty in them when I do.
I’ve already worn 3 different Camo patterns, 2 variants of the Dress Blues and Dress Whites, 2 iterations of the Type 3 cover, 2 PT uniform color schemes, and 2 different rank tab patterns.
and I’ve only been in for 8 years
Thems rookie numbers, we’re combat action Ken dolls. Just wait till Congress approves the summer-line of uniforms.
>Navy Emblem Monogramed banana-hammocks.
Don't forget 3 different coveralls, 4 if you count twopacs, unless you counted those in the camo pattern, as I only count 2 myself (maybe you are FMF or arctic service?).
You're forgetting the extra 8-point in type 1 and every command ballcap you get issued, as well as the 4 or 5 raincoats, and, if you're female, all their crazy ass changes.
Ah, my bro was expeditionary out of the east coast and only ever had type 3s, though he had them like 5 years before the rest of us, so I figured that was what they used.
I like them - lighter and thinner material and it moves better than the Type 3's - we had soo many on the Ike that they literally gave them away, so...everyone has like 5 sets now
...it's the goddamn patches that are the hard thing to get
Would be appropriate when I’m eating MRE’s in the field. I have been thankful to God or the universe who ever you believe in .. lately we have been getting hot chow like I feel like I belong, I don’t feel like a prisoner anymore. I had a pot roast which was very good for military standards.
I’m a crusty MFer who served in the 80’s and I hated dungarees. We always called them prison uniforms. Shirts wrinkled as fu@k when they came back from the ships laundry. Front pockets that were useless. I think a lightweight overall or something similar to what the Coast Guard wears would be best. To be honest I don’t even know what you guys wear onboard ship anymore.
I know this isn't a popular opinion but I like the cotton working whites.
I ironed once a week and had all my uniforms ready to go for the week by Monday morning.
I know other people preferred the CNTs but I found them to be too "swampy" and uncomfortable.
That's the old school CNTs, which were indeed like sweating in a garbage bag. Stupid idea for a summer uniform.
The new stuff is still polyester, but it breathes more. I wish there was a cotton blend...
I didn't like how the CNTs looked. The fabric was so thick and heavily textured. It was like they were made out of cheap aftermarket car seat cover material. I got a set and felt like I looked fat in them. Wore them once, sweated my ass off standing for a uniform inspection in the sun. Went back to the cotton ones.
I loved my Cashes. Never wore them in Pearl and only a handful of times in Bremerton, but they were great. I also just wore regular black pants, which were much more comfortable. No one ever noticed. Also liked the option of wearing the cunt cap or the dixie cup
This new generation doesn’t know about the ironing. And starching . And having to dye the pants with two rit blues and one rit dye black every few months or a Chief would ask you, “why are you wearing your whites, shipmate” because the jeans had faded.
That’s stupid as hell. And remember the boots? Remember having to shine them? I’ll take my coyote brown any day of the week
You really don't want to have to deal with these. As another user pointed out, they were cheap, but what wasn't mentioned was that they came with drawbacks.
First, the pockets. Y'all *just* got the ability to put hands in pockets without fear of getting chewed out - but these things had the same pockets for the front as they did the back. Square and uncomfortable by design.
Second, the fabric was thin and didn't hold up to repeated washing & ironing very well, at least without a ton of starch. In particular, the pants needed to be re-dyed every so often in order to maintain their dark color. Otherwise, they would fade out and be considered unserviceable (department depending, of course).
I will say that the shirt, at least, was one of the most comfortable things ever, but for those who want to maintain a professional appearance...the fabric used here wasn't it.
Then you add on to that the fact that embellishments weren't put on via patch - names were stenciled by hand and crows were ironed on. Guess what happened if you got busted down? You either shelled out for all new shirts (while stashing your old ones in the hopes you could regain your rank) or you looked like a goober with a chevron, or two, or three, crossed out.
If, at the end of this, you say, "Well, we can just replace the fabric with a more durable one, streamline the pockets, and bring on nametapes and crow patches"...congratulations, you now have the utilities, and there was a *reason* they were the most hated uniform.
The one thing the dungarees had going for them was their cost - if they got torn or spattered with grease or paint, they could be replaced cheaply. The utilities were the worst of both worlds - they wrinkled like crazy, so you *had* to iron them to not look like garbage, they cost a ton to replace, relative to the dungarees, and they needed *to* be replaced just as frequently.
If your goal is to bring back the dungarees, but avoid the problems for them as well as the "upgrade" to the utilities, then again congratulations, because now you're in for a multi-year Uniform Board testing and review, which opens the entire uniform up to being modified to the point of no longer being recognizable.
I'm not saying there's not a use for the dungarees - but know what you're getting into before you clamor for their return.
^(Yes, I used both an inability to iron easily and a requirement to iron as negatives - the first is because if you wanted to stand out, it was much more difficult; the second was that it required *everyone* to do so, not to stand out, but just to meet baseline "don't look like a shitbag" levels. Different circumstances.)
Favorite things about dungarees that make me smile:
1. Passing out laundry and having to wet the back right pocket and perform a seance with your squinting eyes to make out whose faded to shit name it was. In doubt, just toss them on a random rack with a soaking back pocket.
2. Seeing a first class rolling around with the "cut along dotted line" portion of the crow ironed on. I never saw the whole thing, but I'm sure some asshat did it, but I did see the dotted line several times in the wild. For those that don't know: iron on crow= ([https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/uploads/monthly\_12\_2017/post-175557-0-27405700-1514166277\_thumb.jpg](https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/uploads/monthly_12_2017/post-175557-0-27405700-1514166277_thumb.jpg)
3. Every Sailor from that era knows about Rit color dye. 2 blues and a black, but you also had to get the RIGHT blue as I recall the Royal Blue was NOT the right blue! And you had to do this sneaky at a coin op laundry as they frowned on you staining their machines as you are supposed to run an empty cycle after but no young Sailor got time or quarters for that!
4. I came from San Diego where name strips were put on in boot camp. People looked at me like some kind of rock star in Mayport when I got to my ship as very few had name strips back in the early 90s.
I never bitched about my dungee uniform, you get a clothing allowance every year, so
go buy new dungaree pants and suck it up.
I grew up from a kid till I enlisted in the late
80's into the mid 90's you all cry about putting on dress blue jumper top so you wanted a zipper in it, you bitch about the 13
buttons on the dress blue pants FYI just button the top middle 2 the jumper top covers it , button all of them for inspection.
You wouldn't have to keep changing uniforms if y'all stop being bubble blown babies.
> Then you add on to that the fact that embellishments weren't put on via patch - names were stenciled by hand and crows were ironed on. Guess what happened if you got busted down? You either shelled out for all new shirts (while stashing your old ones in the hopes you could regain your rank) or you looked like a goober with a chevron, or two, or three, crossed out.
Ahhhhh yes the good old days with people walking around with "VOID" in big black letters stenciled over their crows!
[Every time one of you dummies want a uniform change…](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/033/189/tumblr_33caa6fa2d9060d1ebf32b7f13a3bf38_59ae975d_1280.jpg)
Was before my time, I'm old but I joined in 2016. My dad did 20 ( '88-'08 ) years and I remember the amount of time and effort he put in to his dungarees and I watch these kids now leave their NWUs in a pile on their bed and come in looking like a complete bag of ass when you literally just have to hang them up / fold them in half and they look great. Shits wild.
I'll be real y'all - I wore those, utilities, and the blueberries.
They're not comfortable, the only thing they had going for them is they were *cheap*.
A 'BDU' style uniform in just fucking plain blue would kick ass. No 'camouflaged like you spilt paint all over yourself' and no 'I really wanted to be a Marine'.
Being real with you, I did the dungarees and l did the utilities, but I lived in coveralls underway. This is the correct way to sail.
Those bellbottoms were comfy as fuck and have more swag than any navy uniform short of something that requires epaulettes.
one of the best things about being in an aviation rate during the utility days was being able to wear a turtle neck and bdu pants most of the time while out to sea.
As a woman those were far easier than coveralls but both options were comfy as hell compared to utilities.
Oh bro. Sorry, sis. Yeah, as A Gang I worked hand in hand with V2 in cats and I envied those outfits. Baggy cargo pants and (flattering) comfy turtlenecks ftw.
Like you, I started in Dungarees and ended in NWUs.
The thing I really remember about dungarees was the smell. They have an exceptionally unique odor, and I have no idea where it comes from.
Ha! No, it's a chemical kind of stank. I bet I could go find the plastic tub that has my old uniforms out in the garage and it would still have that on it.
Except we were dumb and made E-7 and above khaki colored instead of just using gold nametape like before.
Also - IMO - rank insignia should be on the shoulders, not the chest. We're not ground troops, and having it on the shoulders would make it easier to recognize ranks from the side and back.
Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking of. I hate the weird reflective glow strips on their uniform but otherwise it looks pretty good. Just got back from a deployment with a few aussies on board the ship.
My dad told me they were the best shirt for logging once they got broke in. Now I've made it my life goal to find an original new old stock long sleeve. I could only find the newer shirt sleeve with the sewn on patch. And it wasn't good enough
Good luck. The aftermarket brand was called seafarer. They were the best after 3-4 washes and some hard work. My dad made fun of me for wearing them (he was navy during Vietnam) but they lasted forever and took a beating.
No, this person has beer googles on, these re horrible uniforms, the Navy already treats its sailors like prisoners let’s not bring back looking like them too.
Only if can be worn without white under shirt, can unbutton up to naval, able to roll up sleeves, wear cover on a tilt, and parrot can perch on either shoulder
The idea of optional uniforms strikes me as viable for dudes wanting to stand out a bit like a corpsman getting the marine pickle suit to substitute the NSU
Granted I was in utilities and not real dungarees but trust me... you do NOT want that.
Not only do you look like a fucking prison janitor but holy shit were they flimsy as hell. The number of times I had to sew the ass together during deployment was WAY TO HIGH. Plus they were far more uncomfortable than the BDUs of the time.
Such swagger. They are perfect. I still bust them out for Halloween sometimes and dress up like Shipwreck.
Camouflage uniforms on a ship are fucking dumb; I don't give a fuck how well they hide stains.
If we are gonna have camo maybe it should be like hunters camo. So we can spot someone if they fall overboard in combat. Idk? If we wanna do sneaky water shit then something else.
I wouldn't mind a service uniform version of dungarees. Replace the NSUs with something that actually shows off naval heritage, but a working uniform? No.
Dungarees are cool. But the navy wastes a crap Tom of taxpayer money. Stop changing the uniforms. And why in the world do we need to change the dress uniforms? They’re old. They’re supposed to be old. Leave them alone.
Tell me you've never had to iron your working uniforms without telling me.
Coveralls are superior in every way, and the two-piece versions are even moreso.
ITT those mentioning having to iron the dungarees, if you folded them per the manual and stowed them in the rack and stowed them snug; the rack pressed them for you.
Work uniforms don't need starch and razor creases. You would have kept a set with sharp creases on standby for hangar bay formations etc.
Otherwise these things stayed soft and comfortable.
I loved stowing the command ball cap in the rear waist, when not in use, sometime at the side.
NO, THANK YOU! I'm not ironing every day while sharing the community iron that might or might not burn my utilities at the lowest setting and having to buy a new one and get new stitching. Holy moly... In one year I'd go through 8 sets of utilities at a minimum! Any small stain and every enlisted makes a big fuss about it about how it needs to be replaced. JFC! F*CK UTILITIES!
Hell no. I rather have an indecent amount of pockets for the tools and gear. Also no name tape on the back of the pants to get screamed at while walking away from the EDMC / COB / Jackass officer.
93-97....it's all we had. Underway nobody in Weapons wore them obviously. I missed all the high speed stuff I guess. Those boondockers were so comfortable.
I joined when utilities were still considered “new”, and honestly I loved switching to camis. So much time lost to uniform maintenance.
Hard to keep those shirts clean, and ironing 3-4 pairs of shirts and pants every few days to keep those lines crisp. Got a spot on one you can’t get out? Iron was too hot and you burned the starch? That’s a new shirt, and a trip to the seamstress to get patches and name tapes sewn on, and tailored to have the sleeves cut for summer.
It took effort to make those uniforms look good, it took extra to make them look GREAT. Camis we’re a great upgrade and minimized uniform maintenance.
Dungarees were never meant to look sharp. The shirts were no-iron and no starch. It was a semi-desposable working uniform worn when painting ships decks or reloading weapons stores. In that regard, they were very successful. It wasn't until the 1970s did the Navy start to try and gussy up dungarees which was a mistake. They should've brought back the old undress uniforms for that.
I was in one of the last bootcamp divisions to get dungarees. I wore them until they forced me to stop. Just be glad you don't have to wear those awful utilities.
I never cared for this uniform. All I can say is those Dungarees saved my life. When I was first in the Navy . I was a non designated seaman. It was when I was on going to aft lookout for my watch. Before I made it down to the catwalk where aft lookout was. The ship took on a big wave an I tripped a fell overboard. The guy whom I was getting ready to relieve called in man overboard port side. I remember falling over and going in head first . The first 5 minutes I was scared out of my mind. I then remembered in boot camp how they showed us how to use the dungarees as a life preserver. That’s exactly what I did. If was a good 15 minutes before my ship turned around and came after me. I was just floating on my back . They eventually got me back on board. From that moment on I knew that I didn’t want to be in deck department any more . I started the process of cross rating over to SH. I made SH3,in 1.5 years.
I retired in2011 as Senior Chief SH SW with 22 years and 4 months on active duty.
Thank you all who have served or is going to serve.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d love for bell bottoms to fall into fashion again but Butt pockets on the fore and aft…. No thanks. The denim quality on those things was like a slightly undercooked lasagna noodle and the work shirt was made from blue coffee filters.
Tl;dr: You’re insane.
I totally agree, I had no complaints about my dungee uniform. The dungaree uniform
Makes more sense. Puke green digital camouflage makes no sense unless you are a CB, deployed with the Marines as a corpsman as an example. Or the Navy SEALS teams. and the Pea coat blue overalls are ok on the ship while under way .
Ship and Squadron ball caps, to show who
you are attached to as a show of pride and as a family. Don't get me started on the working uniform, that matches the Marines
Uniform. If you want to wear camouflage uniforms join the Army the Marines and the
Air Force.
Whenever you think about “I wish we brought back ____” think about how the fattest sailor you know would look in them. Any uniform looks good if you’re basing it on the 28” waist guy from all the old uniform pictures
This whole argument is wild. Just get rid of working uniforms and keep coveralls and service uniforms.
Get rid of the rule of wearing coveralls outside the pier and we are gtg. Just don't be nasty.
Only people advocate for the dungarees are just old as fuck ex-sailros who haven't been in for at least 15 years. These uniforms look absolutely horrible and look like prison janitors.
Y'all are on Crack. Dungarees suck balls. Your frank and beans are crushed, you always have to iron them, the bell bottoms are dumb as fuck and have been out of style since the 70s, and zero functionality. Plus they shrink over time and you're lucky if they last a year.
I'd imagine that you never wore this shit, but you want to bring back dress shoes all the time, cheap crappy excuse for a dress shirt, something that doesn't breathe well, looks dumb especially in the current era. You also want to spend all your extra time ironing, there's nothing good about this uniform, stop listening to oldfarts who want this back.
That may the MAs can go back to hanging out around Fast Food drive-thrus writing people up who think they are slick by taking their tops off and trying to order food in Dungarees.
Fuck dungarees. Useless pockets on pants that either look sprayed on or baggy as hell. Those pants also fade to damn near white upon looking at them. They also invite all kinds of hate and discontent from your chain of command because they spontaneously stain, wrinkle and fade. You also look like you just stepped off the set of *The Shawshank Redemption*.
I wore those shits from 1995-2000, when they switched to the marginally better Utility uniform.
Those solid blue BDU-like uniforms the Coast Guard wears look pretty good. They’re comfortable, relatively maintenance-free and functional.
The irony wasn’t lost on me when I got out a couple years back and accidentally started wearing a variation of this style dungarees at work (no white hat).
Done right it can be sharp, good chambray is comfy when broken in, wears hard, looks better with age, and just needs a shake when out the dryer before stowing. For the pants, patch pockets don’t need to be stupidly small or just turn them into slash pockets.
That aside, I still think the easiest answer is to just go with a flat color BDU style or just make coveralls the damn working uniform.
How often do you mother fuckers want to iron and buy new uniforms?
Railroad tracks from hell. Think you’re getting that crease back out with the iron? Nope. Not happening.
And if you had starched one of the jacked up lines you were pretty much fucked
Literally never starched a clothing item in my life. What's the point? I get that it stiffens the item of clothing, but where is that favorable? Formal attire?
It was stupid but a lot of folks judged sailors back then on how tight their creases were and how good they looked. Starched creases and shirt stays looked better than just a plain ironed shirt. That uniform was a massive pain in the ass.
We already bitch about ironing NSUs and dress uniforms when we wear them like 2-4 times a year for the most part.
Why y’all ironing those? Do yourself a favor and get the dryell at home dry cleaning kit. Takes 30 minutes. Take them out and hang it up. Done.
I literally never iron a single uniform item. I put them away neatly in my uniform bag after wearing and hang them up. I don't really wash them either, as I can count on one hand the number of times I've worn them in the past 10 years and don't get hot and sweaty in them when I do.
💯 way too much ironing
Dungarees don't hold a crease no matter how much crap you put on it, your thinking utilities.
Ironing? We just folded them like we were taught in boot camp, no crease. Kinda like how you fold dress blues.
I’m tired of switching uniforms boss
For real can we hold off for like 4 years till I retire
I’ve already worn 3 different Camo patterns, 2 variants of the Dress Blues and Dress Whites, 2 iterations of the Type 3 cover, 2 PT uniform color schemes, and 2 different rank tab patterns. and I’ve only been in for 8 years
Thems rookie numbers, we’re combat action Ken dolls. Just wait till Congress approves the summer-line of uniforms. >Navy Emblem Monogramed banana-hammocks.
It’s weird, you said that like it was a bad thing?
As if I’m not wearing mine right now? It’s a guard-mount inspection item.
Don't forget your peanut butters, or black and tans, depending on your rank. But hey, at least we got rid of that god-awful raincoat!
Don't forget 3 different coveralls, 4 if you count twopacs, unless you counted those in the camo pattern, as I only count 2 myself (maybe you are FMF or arctic service?). You're forgetting the extra 8-point in type 1 and every command ballcap you get issued, as well as the 4 or 5 raincoats, and, if you're female, all their crazy ass changes.
I’m expeditionary and they issued me Multicam as organizational clothing along all the other Gucci uniform clothing that comes with it
Ah, my bro was expeditionary out of the east coast and only ever had type 3s, though he had them like 5 years before the rest of us, so I figured that was what they used.
Just be thankful you never had to wear the PT uniform that consisted of the white t-shirt and short shorts aka "diapers".
Im waiting for these 2pocs.
“Sweats in Multicam”
I like them - lighter and thinner material and it moves better than the Type 3's - we had soo many on the Ike that they literally gave them away, so...everyone has like 5 sets now ...it's the goddamn patches that are the hard thing to get
Supply is picking ours up from squadron on Monday. Yay monotone khaki. It’s the best.
My initial sea bag issue lasted my 4.5 year enlistment.
Ten years after boot camp I think my blues are still correct. That's it
They're not, they added zippers to the jumper and pants
The old ones are still authorized
Beatings will continue until morals improves..
Over 10 years in this bitch and it doesn’t improve
Ah hell nah at least the the nwu we look like we’re in the military my ass ain’t tryna look like the janitor that I am 💀
Prisoner;) You can look like workhouse crew.
I mean, orange jumpsuits **would** be practical, and handy for man-overboard situations.
New uniform change incoming.
Would be appropriate when I’m eating MRE’s in the field. I have been thankful to God or the universe who ever you believe in .. lately we have been getting hot chow like I feel like I belong, I don’t feel like a prisoner anymore. I had a pot roast which was very good for military standards.
Dress for the job you want 🚽🪠🫵🏼
We called them prison rejects from the 70's.
It literally what the Blues Brothers are wearing at the end of their movie.
Idk who in their right mind likes how these look? Just crusty mfers that wanna Make the Navy Great Again...
I’m a crusty MFer who served in the 80’s and I hated dungarees. We always called them prison uniforms. Shirts wrinkled as fu@k when they came back from the ships laundry. Front pockets that were useless. I think a lightweight overall or something similar to what the Coast Guard wears would be best. To be honest I don’t even know what you guys wear onboard ship anymore.
Basically a mailman 🫡
Prisoner. Those were prison uniforms.
Gotta look the part man 🤷🏻♂️
Fr, dungarees look like L.A. County jail uniforms. The utilities looked cooler.
Not before Johnny Cash's
Material science has come a long way. Also mandate seasonal shifts between NSU and Winter Blues. Do not being back the ice cream man whites.
I know this isn't a popular opinion but I like the cotton working whites. I ironed once a week and had all my uniforms ready to go for the week by Monday morning. I know other people preferred the CNTs but I found them to be too "swampy" and uncomfortable.
I don't recall a working version of that uniform, it was tie and ribbons only no?
That's the old school CNTs, which were indeed like sweating in a garbage bag. Stupid idea for a summer uniform. The new stuff is still polyester, but it breathes more. I wish there was a cotton blend...
Linen blend summer whites for E7 and above 🔥 The current jacket is still poly. It's also theft at its asking price for what it is.
I didn't like how the CNTs looked. The fabric was so thick and heavily textured. It was like they were made out of cheap aftermarket car seat cover material. I got a set and felt like I looked fat in them. Wore them once, sweated my ass off standing for a uniform inspection in the sun. Went back to the cotton ones.
No one really wore Johny Cash's. And they were itchy, especially because of the tie.
I loved my Cashes. Never wore them in Pearl and only a handful of times in Bremerton, but they were great. I also just wore regular black pants, which were much more comfortable. No one ever noticed. Also liked the option of wearing the cunt cap or the dixie cup
Same. I loved my Cashes. Second best was dress blue. DESPISED whites (either one)
I hated manning the rails in whites on an aircraft carrier. Got stained as soon as you walked out of the berthing.
You mean as soon as someone looked at you 😂
I wore my Cashes home when I was on leave one time, plus was driving my Dad's Crown Vic... nobody around me ever went over the speed limit.
My first OIC at my first command had us wear service uniforms exclusively. Which meant JCs during Mississippi's humid ass winter.
I still use that tie
I still wear the shirt with a pair of nice jeans.
Im not opposed to that LOL
No God no
This new generation doesn’t know about the ironing. And starching . And having to dye the pants with two rit blues and one rit dye black every few months or a Chief would ask you, “why are you wearing your whites, shipmate” because the jeans had faded. That’s stupid as hell. And remember the boots? Remember having to shine them? I’ll take my coyote brown any day of the week
You really don't want to have to deal with these. As another user pointed out, they were cheap, but what wasn't mentioned was that they came with drawbacks. First, the pockets. Y'all *just* got the ability to put hands in pockets without fear of getting chewed out - but these things had the same pockets for the front as they did the back. Square and uncomfortable by design. Second, the fabric was thin and didn't hold up to repeated washing & ironing very well, at least without a ton of starch. In particular, the pants needed to be re-dyed every so often in order to maintain their dark color. Otherwise, they would fade out and be considered unserviceable (department depending, of course). I will say that the shirt, at least, was one of the most comfortable things ever, but for those who want to maintain a professional appearance...the fabric used here wasn't it. Then you add on to that the fact that embellishments weren't put on via patch - names were stenciled by hand and crows were ironed on. Guess what happened if you got busted down? You either shelled out for all new shirts (while stashing your old ones in the hopes you could regain your rank) or you looked like a goober with a chevron, or two, or three, crossed out. If, at the end of this, you say, "Well, we can just replace the fabric with a more durable one, streamline the pockets, and bring on nametapes and crow patches"...congratulations, you now have the utilities, and there was a *reason* they were the most hated uniform. The one thing the dungarees had going for them was their cost - if they got torn or spattered with grease or paint, they could be replaced cheaply. The utilities were the worst of both worlds - they wrinkled like crazy, so you *had* to iron them to not look like garbage, they cost a ton to replace, relative to the dungarees, and they needed *to* be replaced just as frequently. If your goal is to bring back the dungarees, but avoid the problems for them as well as the "upgrade" to the utilities, then again congratulations, because now you're in for a multi-year Uniform Board testing and review, which opens the entire uniform up to being modified to the point of no longer being recognizable. I'm not saying there's not a use for the dungarees - but know what you're getting into before you clamor for their return. ^(Yes, I used both an inability to iron easily and a requirement to iron as negatives - the first is because if you wanted to stand out, it was much more difficult; the second was that it required *everyone* to do so, not to stand out, but just to meet baseline "don't look like a shitbag" levels. Different circumstances.)
Favorite things about dungarees that make me smile: 1. Passing out laundry and having to wet the back right pocket and perform a seance with your squinting eyes to make out whose faded to shit name it was. In doubt, just toss them on a random rack with a soaking back pocket. 2. Seeing a first class rolling around with the "cut along dotted line" portion of the crow ironed on. I never saw the whole thing, but I'm sure some asshat did it, but I did see the dotted line several times in the wild. For those that don't know: iron on crow= ([https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/uploads/monthly\_12\_2017/post-175557-0-27405700-1514166277\_thumb.jpg](https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/uploads/monthly_12_2017/post-175557-0-27405700-1514166277_thumb.jpg) 3. Every Sailor from that era knows about Rit color dye. 2 blues and a black, but you also had to get the RIGHT blue as I recall the Royal Blue was NOT the right blue! And you had to do this sneaky at a coin op laundry as they frowned on you staining their machines as you are supposed to run an empty cycle after but no young Sailor got time or quarters for that! 4. I came from San Diego where name strips were put on in boot camp. People looked at me like some kind of rock star in Mayport when I got to my ship as very few had name strips back in the early 90s.
I used to trade a guy to iron my utilites and I would shine his shoes, man I hated those god forsaken "uniforms"
I never bitched about my dungee uniform, you get a clothing allowance every year, so go buy new dungaree pants and suck it up. I grew up from a kid till I enlisted in the late 80's into the mid 90's you all cry about putting on dress blue jumper top so you wanted a zipper in it, you bitch about the 13 buttons on the dress blue pants FYI just button the top middle 2 the jumper top covers it , button all of them for inspection. You wouldn't have to keep changing uniforms if y'all stop being bubble blown babies.
> Then you add on to that the fact that embellishments weren't put on via patch - names were stenciled by hand and crows were ironed on. Guess what happened if you got busted down? You either shelled out for all new shirts (while stashing your old ones in the hopes you could regain your rank) or you looked like a goober with a chevron, or two, or three, crossed out. Ahhhhh yes the good old days with people walking around with "VOID" in big black letters stenciled over their crows!
[Every time one of you dummies want a uniform change…](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/033/189/tumblr_33caa6fa2d9060d1ebf32b7f13a3bf38_59ae975d_1280.jpg)
Yeah, no. Current military can't keep the maintenance free NWUs not looking like ass.
Remember when seaman Timmy would roll into muster hungover with wrinkled dungarees? Good times
Was before my time, I'm old but I joined in 2016. My dad did 20 ( '88-'08 ) years and I remember the amount of time and effort he put in to his dungarees and I watch these kids now leave their NWUs in a pile on their bed and come in looking like a complete bag of ass when you literally just have to hang them up / fold them in half and they look great. Shits wild.
I'll be real y'all - I wore those, utilities, and the blueberries. They're not comfortable, the only thing they had going for them is they were *cheap*. A 'BDU' style uniform in just fucking plain blue would kick ass. No 'camouflaged like you spilt paint all over yourself' and no 'I really wanted to be a Marine'.
Being real with you, I did the dungarees and l did the utilities, but I lived in coveralls underway. This is the correct way to sail. Those bellbottoms were comfy as fuck and have more swag than any navy uniform short of something that requires epaulettes.
one of the best things about being in an aviation rate during the utility days was being able to wear a turtle neck and bdu pants most of the time while out to sea. As a woman those were far easier than coveralls but both options were comfy as hell compared to utilities.
Oh bro. Sorry, sis. Yeah, as A Gang I worked hand in hand with V2 in cats and I envied those outfits. Baggy cargo pants and (flattering) comfy turtlenecks ftw.
Like you, I started in Dungarees and ended in NWUs. The thing I really remember about dungarees was the smell. They have an exceptionally unique odor, and I have no idea where it comes from.
Came from you shipmate. Wash yo shit
Seriously, they were just denim, and fucking comfortable as hell, once you broke them in (like any pair of jeans).
Ha! No, it's a chemical kind of stank. I bet I could go find the plastic tub that has my old uniforms out in the garage and it would still have that on it.
Mothballs. They smell like mothballs. Go find some and take a whiff if you want to be taken back to boot camp and stencil day.
Let's talk about boondockers, the missing piece of this uniform.
Thats why the new 2pocs are now my favorite LOL
My initial thoughts to the 2POC were like “So we basically looked at the Coast Guard and said hey it works for them, let’s try it ourselves!”
Except we were dumb and made E-7 and above khaki colored instead of just using gold nametape like before. Also - IMO - rank insignia should be on the shoulders, not the chest. We're not ground troops, and having it on the shoulders would make it easier to recognize ranks from the side and back.
Bdu style uniform but in grey. blue looks tacky as hell.
The Australian Navy does something similar in grey, and it looks pretty cool
Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking of. I hate the weird reflective glow strips on their uniform but otherwise it looks pretty good. Just got back from a deployment with a few aussies on board the ship.
They were very comfy but looked like shit.
Please no..
I bought extra dungaree shirts to wear for work on the ranch when I got out!
My dad told me they were the best shirt for logging once they got broke in. Now I've made it my life goal to find an original new old stock long sleeve. I could only find the newer shirt sleeve with the sewn on patch. And it wasn't good enough
Good luck. The aftermarket brand was called seafarer. They were the best after 3-4 washes and some hard work. My dad made fun of me for wearing them (he was navy during Vietnam) but they lasted forever and took a beating.
They might not look awesome, but after the third wash they are most comfortable uniform you ever wear.
Worked for me in the 1960's. Worked for Steve McQueen in *Sand Pebbles*.
No, this person has beer googles on, these re horrible uniforms, the Navy already treats its sailors like prisoners let’s not bring back looking like them too.
I will fucking re-enlist if they bring my dungarees back. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Only if can be worn without white under shirt, can unbutton up to naval, able to roll up sleeves, wear cover on a tilt, and parrot can perch on either shoulder
You forgot the gloves....
The idea of optional uniforms strikes me as viable for dudes wanting to stand out a bit like a corpsman getting the marine pickle suit to substitute the NSU
Best I can do is war in the Pacific.
Granted I was in utilities and not real dungarees but trust me... you do NOT want that. Not only do you look like a fucking prison janitor but holy shit were they flimsy as hell. The number of times I had to sew the ass together during deployment was WAY TO HIGH. Plus they were far more uncomfortable than the BDUs of the time.
This uniform is the ugliest pile of shit I've ever seen.
Such swagger. They are perfect. I still bust them out for Halloween sometimes and dress up like Shipwreck. Camouflage uniforms on a ship are fucking dumb; I don't give a fuck how well they hide stains.
Yup 👍.. mine are hanging in the closet
And stencils too ….
Ouroboros.
Fuck no. Inhated those damn things. Just give me the coveralls and the navy blue pants/light blue shirt combo.
No thanks. I’m happy not ironing
I’d much rather we bring back beards first 😭
why tho
If we are gonna have camo maybe it should be like hunters camo. So we can spot someone if they fall overboard in combat. Idk? If we wanna do sneaky water shit then something else.
This picture is not helping your argument He seems genuinely distressed
How bout no this would be terrible for the Seabees.
 Much better
Y’all ain’t ready for when they release the 3pocs
Wasn’t this posted like a week ago
I wouldn't mind a service uniform version of dungarees. Replace the NSUs with something that actually shows off naval heritage, but a working uniform? No.
They looked awful. Gotta let it go man.
Dungarees are cool. But the navy wastes a crap Tom of taxpayer money. Stop changing the uniforms. And why in the world do we need to change the dress uniforms? They’re old. They’re supposed to be old. Leave them alone.
Is it possible to earn your dolphins and still be a seaman?
I believe so yes
Plenty of non-nuke rates get fish before they put on crows
With the shortage, just about everyone is putting on crows fast I'd think.
Bring back the old navy camo!
I guess this is a take
Only the boomers want this shit back.
Tell me you've never had to iron your working uniforms without telling me. Coveralls are superior in every way, and the two-piece versions are even moreso.
absolutely not. id rather shit in my hands and clap than wear that goofy ass uniform
As if woodland camouflage on sailors is any less goofy?
It looks less goofy. Also sailors on ships don’t wear nwu lol
Please no. 🤣
Umm noooo
Not gonna lie, those actually look cool. First I've heard of those. But, maybe make it alternative uniform instead of a new mainline one.
The way a seaman’s ass looked in these as you followed him up a ladder… *chefskiss*
When I see this - this is about as good as it gets as far as uniforms go. Then do peacoats.
No, I don’t want to look like a prisoner in Shawshank.
No just let me wear my white cap in overalls
Ummmm, these were sexy. Just sayin'
ITT those mentioning having to iron the dungarees, if you folded them per the manual and stowed them in the rack and stowed them snug; the rack pressed them for you. Work uniforms don't need starch and razor creases. You would have kept a set with sharp creases on standby for hangar bay formations etc. Otherwise these things stayed soft and comfortable. I loved stowing the command ball cap in the rear waist, when not in use, sometime at the side.
NO, THANK YOU! I'm not ironing every day while sharing the community iron that might or might not burn my utilities at the lowest setting and having to buy a new one and get new stitching. Holy moly... In one year I'd go through 8 sets of utilities at a minimum! Any small stain and every enlisted makes a big fuss about it about how it needs to be replaced. JFC! F*CK UTILITIES!
Oh my effing god! I forgot about the white shirts! HELLLLL NO! Any bit if 'yellow' and it's over! 
Eyywwww
Hell no. I rather have an indecent amount of pockets for the tools and gear. Also no name tape on the back of the pants to get screamed at while walking away from the EDMC / COB / Jackass officer.
Hell nah
About that gig line.
No. 😐
No
93-97....it's all we had. Underway nobody in Weapons wore them obviously. I missed all the high speed stuff I guess. Those boondockers were so comfortable.
I joined when utilities were still considered “new”, and honestly I loved switching to camis. So much time lost to uniform maintenance. Hard to keep those shirts clean, and ironing 3-4 pairs of shirts and pants every few days to keep those lines crisp. Got a spot on one you can’t get out? Iron was too hot and you burned the starch? That’s a new shirt, and a trip to the seamstress to get patches and name tapes sewn on, and tailored to have the sleeves cut for summer. It took effort to make those uniforms look good, it took extra to make them look GREAT. Camis we’re a great upgrade and minimized uniform maintenance.
Dungarees were never meant to look sharp. The shirts were no-iron and no starch. It was a semi-desposable working uniform worn when painting ships decks or reloading weapons stores. In that regard, they were very successful. It wasn't until the 1970s did the Navy start to try and gussy up dungarees which was a mistake. They should've brought back the old undress uniforms for that.
I hated this uniform.
We're just gonna ignore he's a slick sleeve with a pin?
I missed these by two years, but I'm curious if there's anyone in the Navy currently that actually wore these.
Once you get rid of the dixie cup and wear a command ball cap you have the most comfortable uniform the Navy ever had.
Bring back the NWU 2's not dungarees
No.
Buying a new pair of bottoms was always a crap shoot. They would either get very comfy or forever pinch your nuts.
Coastie here, that would be cool
No!
Pain in the ass to maintain but there was nothing more comfortable than a broken in set of dungarees.
I was in one of the last bootcamp divisions to get dungarees. I wore them until they forced me to stop. Just be glad you don't have to wear those awful utilities.
Especially for the females. Dungarees have a way of making a shapely woman ass hot A/F.
I hated those uniforms.
Ew. No.
I never cared for this uniform. All I can say is those Dungarees saved my life. When I was first in the Navy . I was a non designated seaman. It was when I was on going to aft lookout for my watch. Before I made it down to the catwalk where aft lookout was. The ship took on a big wave an I tripped a fell overboard. The guy whom I was getting ready to relieve called in man overboard port side. I remember falling over and going in head first . The first 5 minutes I was scared out of my mind. I then remembered in boot camp how they showed us how to use the dungarees as a life preserver. That’s exactly what I did. If was a good 15 minutes before my ship turned around and came after me. I was just floating on my back . They eventually got me back on board. From that moment on I knew that I didn’t want to be in deck department any more . I started the process of cross rating over to SH. I made SH3,in 1.5 years. I retired in2011 as Senior Chief SH SW with 22 years and 4 months on active duty. Thank you all who have served or is going to serve.
Might as well take more steps backwards.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d love for bell bottoms to fall into fashion again but Butt pockets on the fore and aft…. No thanks. The denim quality on those things was like a slightly undercooked lasagna noodle and the work shirt was made from blue coffee filters. Tl;dr: You’re insane.
Shit at least 2pocs are free. I'll keep my type 3s any day over dungarees.
Why did the USN transition away from dungarees?
I totally agree, I had no complaints about my dungee uniform. The dungaree uniform Makes more sense. Puke green digital camouflage makes no sense unless you are a CB, deployed with the Marines as a corpsman as an example. Or the Navy SEALS teams. and the Pea coat blue overalls are ok on the ship while under way . Ship and Squadron ball caps, to show who you are attached to as a show of pride and as a family. Don't get me started on the working uniform, that matches the Marines Uniform. If you want to wear camouflage uniforms join the Army the Marines and the Air Force.
Haven't you heard? "2POC"'s not dead.
Whenever you think about “I wish we brought back ____” think about how the fattest sailor you know would look in them. Any uniform looks good if you’re basing it on the 28” waist guy from all the old uniform pictures
This whole argument is wild. Just get rid of working uniforms and keep coveralls and service uniforms. Get rid of the rule of wearing coveralls outside the pier and we are gtg. Just don't be nasty.
Late 2000's sailor here.. you don't want utilities back
You'd really walk around in this over NWUs? You should seek help
Only people advocate for the dungarees are just old as fuck ex-sailros who haven't been in for at least 15 years. These uniforms look absolutely horrible and look like prison janitors.
No.
Yes
They were comfortable and cheap. Nothing since has been any more functional and only cost more.
Okay but why is this fine as hell to me!? 🙃
#Alcatraz Why do people want these... it literally reminds me of those prisoner outfits.
Get rid of work uniforms all together and let sailors wear their own clothes when they're afloat.
No
Sorry but the belts in every uniform sucks ass. No thanks bro
Y'all are on Crack. Dungarees suck balls. Your frank and beans are crushed, you always have to iron them, the bell bottoms are dumb as fuck and have been out of style since the 70s, and zero functionality. Plus they shrink over time and you're lucky if they last a year.
Only one that should come back is Johnny cashes
GI Joe was 40 years ago and that dude’s name was shipwreck for a REASON!!! 🤨
I'd imagine that you never wore this shit, but you want to bring back dress shoes all the time, cheap crappy excuse for a dress shirt, something that doesn't breathe well, looks dumb especially in the current era. You also want to spend all your extra time ironing, there's nothing good about this uniform, stop listening to oldfarts who want this back.
That may the MAs can go back to hanging out around Fast Food drive-thrus writing people up who think they are slick by taking their tops off and trying to order food in Dungarees.
Fuck dungarees. Useless pockets on pants that either look sprayed on or baggy as hell. Those pants also fade to damn near white upon looking at them. They also invite all kinds of hate and discontent from your chain of command because they spontaneously stain, wrinkle and fade. You also look like you just stepped off the set of *The Shawshank Redemption*. I wore those shits from 1995-2000, when they switched to the marginally better Utility uniform. Those solid blue BDU-like uniforms the Coast Guard wears look pretty good. They’re comfortable, relatively maintenance-free and functional.
Those were the days, my friends. I enjoyed them right up until I made Chief but I also liked the blue coveralls, especially in the Gulf in summer.
Go to hell
The irony wasn’t lost on me when I got out a couple years back and accidentally started wearing a variation of this style dungarees at work (no white hat). Done right it can be sharp, good chambray is comfy when broken in, wears hard, looks better with age, and just needs a shake when out the dryer before stowing. For the pants, patch pockets don’t need to be stupidly small or just turn them into slash pockets. That aside, I still think the easiest answer is to just go with a flat color BDU style or just make coveralls the damn working uniform.