Military Uniform Store

When did military uniforms change from Napoleon style to green/camo?

Like when you look at old military paintings and they have the huge Napoleon hats, colorful coats, medals, etc. When did we switch to what we use now?

Public Comments

1. You aren't asking a clear question. Do you want to know when the giant hat mess got replaced or when we switched to exactly what he have right now? If you want to know the former, there was a French unit in WWI (can't remember its name) who wore the classic giant hats and silver breastplates, and of course, they got obliterated. That pretty much COMPLETELY eradicated the whole classic style military uniforms (except for in military parades and various other formal showings),
2. The military uniform has been changing styles dur to fashions of the time and of practicality you should be able to check out the change in uniforms if you check out the Marine Corps Museum web site they have a static display of all the uniforms the Marine Corps has worn since its inception.
3. British units operating in India and Africa switched to khaki pants and skirts with just a small brimmed hat (called a kepi) during the 1840s. This was for the purpose of camouflage.
4. when winning the war became more important than tradition, also change with the times they didnt always wear ceremonial outfits like that. e.g roman times when outfits they wore served an actual purpose like armour and helmets. Hamrodgers hit it on the head, basically wore khaki or white and then stained them with coffee and rubbed grass into them to replicate the camo effect.