WWII British Army String Vest…how were they originally worn?

[Monk]

Question here…
as information is not easy to find.

The old British military cotton string vests used in WWII and onwards…
how were they worn?
Were they worn next to the skin or

was it skin then a collarless shirt then the string vest under the battledress blouse?

Any old timers know or ever hear from any of your older relatives from the forces how they were worn?
Thanks!

 

[Hammock_man]

String vests are worn next to the skin but must be under a shirt. What is little understood is they are designed to keep the shirt off the skin as the shirt would be worn for more then one day !! 3 shirts One on, one in the drawer and one in the wash.

 

[Toddy]

Worn next to the skin. The netting effect created air pockets. That both kept the person warm and allowed sweat to evaporate.

M

 

[Janne]

String vests are best worn while sitting in front of tv, watching your favourite sport, eating crisps and drinking beer.

 

[Bishop]

The crew of "Skydiver" from Gerry Anderson's series UFO making string vests look sexy since 1970

 

[baggins]

hmmmm, look like my Aclima wool net gear. lol! Seriously though, as everyone else has said, next to the skin with a layer over the top to trap the air. My wool net stuff may make me look like someone off UFO, but it is surprisingly warm and comfortable.

 

[leaky5]

Not sure if this is 100% true. An RAF fireman once told me that they wore them so that there was less skin contact area should thier clothes catch fire

 

[tombear]

Sad to say I've wartime and post war string vests in my collection and a worrying amount of draws, cellular....

Back in tghe 90s I aquired a set of Brynje under ware as it was in a closing down sale and would just fit.

https://www.brynje-shop.com/en/sportswear~c12/brynje-super-thermo-shirt-10200300-p9610

The one time I tried them on herself nearly wet herself laughing so hard. Possibly I should have worn underpants as there was much mention of kiwi fruit in her grannies string bag or some such.

ATB

Tom

 

[MikeLA]

Used them on a tour of Kenya and why they were stopped in favour of cotton t shirts in Iraq and Afghanistan I just don’t know.
In 130 degree heat of archers post they kept a gap of a red hot shirt off your skin.

Smart kit and simple

 

[Janne]

Weird. In Sweden we call them ’nät brynjor’.
Translated to British/American it means ’net mail (shirt)’ you know what they wore in battle

Strange a Nirwegisn company can use that as a brand name.

 

[oldtimer]

They played havoc with my nipples!

 

[Janne]

They played havoc with my nipples!

Yes, piercings can get caught badly. But then there is a solution:
Duct tape.
You get the added sensation/pleasure upon removing the tape!

 

[Mike313]

..plus if you tie the end in a knot, you can use it to take onions home from the supermarket .... every little helps !

 

[oldtimer]

Colin Fletcher, in "The Complete Walker" (1971) describes the string vest as "an unlikely garment consisting of a lot of holes tied together with string", and in a footnote, tells the following anecdote:

"During World War Two I was with a British unit that had been issued with fishnet vests as special mountaineering equipment. Eventually the unit was converted to cliff assault duty and moved to a Cornish fishing village. Our string vests astonished the fishermen and their wives. For several years they had, as experienced netmakers, been producing these strange devices for the war effort in great secrecy but they had never been able to guess what the peculiarly shaped nets were for. No one, when sober, had seriously entertained the notion that they might be some kind of clothing."

 

[Janne]

It is an excellent piece of clothing. I was not aware that the young’ und did not know it existed.
I still use them, I have a couple I bought in the early 1980’s.
I remember I asked mother to wash them several times before I wore them, same with my cotton shirts.
Cotton used to be of a much higher quality decades ago, the clothes lasted much longer.
But the fabric (fibers?) were stiffer.
Real nipple abraders!

 

[Monk]

Heh, thanks for the replies everyone!
oldtimer, thanks for the Colin Fletcher reference.
I have run across on the web some references to them being worn over a shirt… next to skin a long sleeve shirt on then the string vest over it from what I can figure out then the outer shirt/blouse, etc. in WWII. Just wondering if this allowed for better air circulation in cold climates…as MikeLA points out in hot weather they would be better worn next to the skin.

I figured that someone might recall from older relatives how they were used/instructed to do so in the older days.

 

[Monk]

Janne,
When you used the cotton string vest,
what layers were you using over it…cotton shirts then a sweater? Something that could be opened for ventilation?
Activity level…hiking/working outdoors…were you able to avoid getting clammy/sweaty with the mesh vest?
Thanks!

 

[Toddy]

My 93 year old Uncle died last year, and I had asked him a few years previously since I'd found two hand knitted ones and wondered about them. That's how I knew that they were worn next to the skin and about the airspaces and sweat evaporating. He served right through the WW2 and he said they were great things. Warm in the cold of Northern Italy, and still comfortable in the heat of North Africa, and still fine while slogging through training in British bogs and hillsides.

Where did you see about them being worn over another shirt ? that would just stick that shirt to the skin and it'd be a sweaty chilled mess in no time.

M

 

[Janne]

Your layering is absolutely correct. Always closest to the body.
I personally prefer clothes that are buttoned (or a zip on a sweater) all the way bottom to top. Easier to remove and ease of adjusting the temperature and ventilation.

In Sweden everybody used to have them, even my wife used to have one.
In cold weather they are very warming as they trap air.

Summertime I used to only walk around the garden in shorts and a string west. It gives a feeling of having clothes on, a bare upper body is more ‘naked’.
I did not want to give the old lady next door a heart attack, being almost naked !

 

[homesicksteve]

Wiggy - the sleeping bag guy - is passionate about fishnet underwear.......

https://www.wiggys.com/clothing-outerwear/fishnet-long-underwear/