Uniform of officers of aviation and aeronautical units, model 1914

Aeronautical units appeared in the Russian army in 1890. From the moment of their creation, soldiers and aeronautical officers wore the uniform of the engineering troops with distinctive signs (anchor with wings) on epaulettes and shoulder straps. The creation of military aviation in the early 1910s required the development of specific uniforms that would emphasize the importance of a new kind of troops. The design drawings and descriptions of the aviators' uniforms were approved by the Emperor on December 2, 1913 and published on January 3, 1914 in an order for the military department.

Aviation officers were assigned a unique uniform – black cloth, single-breasted with eight buttons, with a collar and cuffs of black velvet, trimmed with red edging along the side, top and bottom of the collar, cuffs and pocket flaps. In cut, it resembled the uniform of the Guards heavy cavalry, but differed from the latter in the number of buttons (eight instead of nine) and trim. Unlike almost all officers' dress uniforms of that time, the aviator's uniform did not have sewing or buttonholes on the collar and cuffs. This was probably done in order not to incur unnecessary expenses for the uniforms of young officers of various branches of the armed forces, from which military aviation was equipped in those years. The epaulettes and shoulder straps on the uniform were silver, of the model of the engineering troops, with red trim, with numbers, letters and emblems assigned to aviation units.

This uniform fully corresponds to the description announced in the order of January 3, 1914. The upper fabrics (black cloth and velvet), as well as buttons and counter-shoulder straps are original. The original edging of the collar was lost in the process of existence and replaced with edging from later instrument cloth (when irradiated with a UV lamp, this detail gives a characteristic glow). The original lining has also been lost, replaced by a genuine lining made of mixed fabric from a soldier's dress uniform of the late 1900s - 1910s, presumably infantry. The quality of the tailor's work is very high. Such repairs could only be made in the costume shop of a large theater or film studio, presumably in the 1980s. The uniform was equipped with original buttons for the lower ranks of RIA engineering units.

Given the exceptional rarity of the item (from January to July 1914, aviation officers had a little more than six months to get a new uniform, and their number at the beginning of the World War did not exceed 200-220 people), we decided to purchase a uniform and offer it to your attention.