Media Making Tip #1

One of the services C&G will be providing is movie/tv consulting. This is an effort to help filmmakers create a better, more realistic product. Here is an example of what we will provide.

C&G Media-Making Tip #1- Watch Your Camouflage Clothing (Part 1)
In the United States, almost everyone these days owns a piece of  military surplus, new manufacture military gear, or something civilian manufacture designed along military lines. Most of the time it's a camouflage item. A jacket, a pair of pants, or hat, for example. Today we take these items as something for granted, as if they have always been around. It's only been in the past 29 years that camo clothing has been largely available to the general public at large. Before then it was virtually unseen outside of the military, and even then it was rare. There was some civilian hunting camo that sporting goods companies started producing in the '60s. However even then the idea didn't take off till much later.
<*Side Note*> US Military Special Operations and other related groups made more use of civilian camo than civilians did for hunting ducks!
If you are making a feature that is set before 1982, avoid dressing civilians in any "surplus" military or civilian camo clothing. Historically there was very little camo available to civilians prior to the late '70s at the end of the Vietnam war. Even then that stuff was rare, amongst vets returning and surpluses being sold off. Not to mention that wearing the stuff didn't start to become a fashion/hunting trend till the mid '80s.
If you insist that a character wear a camo item, do your research. Realistically they would wear a civilian "duck hunter" pattern of clothing more often than not. If a character is a war veteran, he would probably be wearing a traditional Tiger Stripe pattern (do your research for the correct patterns) or and ERTL pattern (used mostly by the Marines). WWII/Korean War dual military pattern (used both by Army and Marines) would be valid for the time period. However it would be very rare. Also foreign camo, while out there, was extremely rare in the US as well.
<*Side Note*> Many countries started to fully equip their military forces with camo clothing long before the US! Switzerland being one of them.

A word of warning! Whatever you do, don't get lazy and dress anyone in a generic modern woodland pattern garment! It is not historically accurate for the time. I've seen too many period features where people do this (Yes Mr. Zombie, I am talkin' to you!). Get it right or find a period alternative that works!

In short the rule of thumb is if it's before '82, don't put non-military people in camo!