This page will contain hint and tips on how to wear, maintain and get your uniform to a high standard. Use this page to your advantage, take note and follow the instructions to get the perfect uniform. Having a good uniform is important because it makes you, the squadron and the corps look good, and if you put the effort in it will get noticed. Remember: points make prizes!
Beret
Like most items of uniform, you will have to put some work into making your Beret fit correctly. You can't just plop it on your head and think it will shape itself. If you don't want it to look like a helicopter landing pad you're going to have to Shape it to fit your head.
How should the Beret be worn?
- The headband should be horizontal across your forehead, one 1 inch (25mm) above the eyebrows.
- The badge must be above your left eye.
- The excess material is draped over to the right ear, extending to at least the top of the ear, and no lowers than the middle of the ear.
- Females with long hair are required to wear a hair net the colour of which must match their hair colour as closely as possible.
1) Take the beret and dunk it in warm (not hot!) water.
2) Then dunk it in to cold water
3) Once you get it soaking wet, put it on your head, make sure the badge is over your left eye and smooth the material over your head and pull it down towards your right ear.
4) Once you've got it all set, wear it for a while until it's almost dry.
5) Carefully take it off and set it down to dry. You may need to shape it a few times to get it right.
6) Fit your badge onto the mounting and secure it with the split pin.
Windsor knot
First of all, make sure that your collar is up, this makes it easier Take a look at the diagram on the left. W stands for wide and N stands for narrow. Take the W part of the tie and place it over your side you use to write. Allow enough length in the W side for the tie to reach your belt buckle. Cross the W part over the N part of the tie.
Step Two
Hold the point where W crosses over N and pull the W towards your chest and up between your collar and the cross.
Step Three
Pull the wide end underneath narrow end and to the left, back through the loop and to the left again so that the wide end is inside out.
Step Four
Bring the W end of the tie across to the right.
Step Six
Step Seven
Adjusting your Windsor knot - If the W part of the tie is too short or too long, untie the tie and start again with the W part of the tie in a more suitable position. When untying the tie, follow these steps in reverse order.
First of all, make sure that your collar is up, this makes it easier Take a look at the diagram on the left. W stands for wide and N stands for narrow. Take the W part of the tie and place it over your side you use to write. Allow enough length in the W side for the tie to reach your belt buckle. Cross the W part over the N part of the tie.
Step Two Hold the point where W crosses over N and pull the W towards your chest and up between your collar and the cross.
Step ThreePull the wide end underneath narrow end and to the left, back through the loop and to the left again so that the wide end is inside out.
Step FourBring the W end of the tie across to the right.
Step Five
Bring the W end behind the tie and back up through the loop.
Step SixPull the W end down and through the knot you just created
Step Seven Using both hands, one on each Tighten the knot and pull it up towards the collar.
Adjusting your Windsor knot - If the W part of the tie is too short or too long, untie the tie and start again with the W part of the tie in a more suitable position. When untying the tie, follow these steps in reverse order.
Shoes
Keeping your shoes polished is quite important because it is an easy way to see who puts effort into their uniform and who doesn’t. Also someone who wears clean, polished shoes looks better than someone who wears dirty, unpolished shoes.
To polish your shoes properly, you will need:
- Shoe polish (black) –Preferably Kiwi.
- A duster, soft rag or cotton wool. – That’s what you’ll be polishing with. If the rag isn't soft it will scratch your shoe.
- Warm Water – Use warm water because it helps to smooth the polish easier, but if the water is too hot it’ll melt the polish off your shoe and you’ll have to start again.
- Your shoes-preferably DMS or Oxfords
- Yourself (You should polish them yourself, don't get your mum or dad to do it)
Method:
1) It may take a while to get your shoes perfect, but once you have, as long as you just give them a quick polish before you wear them, it will be easy to keep up the high standard.
First, you must make sure your whole shoe is clean. Wrap the duster around your index finger so that it is smooth and has no creases. If you are using cotton wool pads, fold it in half twice, polishing with the straight part. If using cotton wool buds just pinch it about 1/3 down.
First, you must make sure your whole shoe is clean. Wrap the duster around your index finger so that it is smooth and has no creases. If you are using cotton wool pads, fold it in half twice, polishing with the straight part. If using cotton wool buds just pinch it about 1/3 down.
2) Next, dip your cloth or cotton wool into the bowl of water. Squeeze off any excess water.
3) Gently rub the cloth or piece of cotton wool along surface of the polish. Now rub the polish into the toe cap of your shoe in circular motions, covering all of the toecap, including the sides. . The circular motion is a vital part of the process. This works the polish into the shoe and allows the polish to settle
4) Keep repeating these circular motions until the polish has turned shiny and does not smear when you rub it. If the shoe becomes dry, wet the duster or cotton wool again. When you first start polishing, you will feel that the surface is rough. You will need to repeat this process until the surface of the shoe is smooth, and remember to use plenty of water.
5) To finish your toecap, it is basically the same process as above, but this time use only small amounts of polish and a little more water. These small layers should only take about 30 seconds to do; you will only need to apply only a few of these layers to get a good shine.
6) Repeat the process for the other shoe and make sure you spend the same amount of time on each shoe.
Many people will not stop at the toecap. Some people polish the complete shoe, even underneath. If you want to do this you will need to put one small layer of polish onto the rest of the shoe, including the rims of the shoe. The polishing method is exactly the same, but do not use lots of polish, use only one layer, otherwise there will be no difference between the toecap and the rest of the shoe. Repeat the process for the other shoe and make sure you spend the same amount of time on each shoe.
You will need to maintain your shoes. If you don’t they will lose their shine. To maintain them, just put a few small layers on your shoes before and after you wear them. If you do not do this, you will have to spend hours polishing your shoes in the future. It is easier and simpler to keep them in a high standard all the time. Remember to always work on your shoes, it is not something that will happen overnight, you must keep at it. It is worth it to have shiny shoes.
Top Tips:
- Do not cheat! There are people out there paint or varnish their shoes. The people who do this are lazy and do not have the right sort of attitude towards their uniform. Also this makes your shoes look rubbish and it usually cracks. Cheating is wrong! (and makes your shoes look bad)
- You will probably hear some weird methods of polishing, such as using spoons and irons. DO NOT USE THESE METHODS. These methods are probably also hard to use and will probably mess up your shoe if you don’t have the skill to use the method. It is risky, use the one which you know and you will get to your target eventually.
- Do not use any instant shine pads. They will leave your shoe oily and your shine in your shoe will get really dull after a while.
- Replace your cotton wool and water regularly.
- Store your shoes in a box somewhere where they cannot get filled with dust
Stripping your shoes
Once in a while you might do something bad to your shoes, like dropping a large heavy object onto your toecap. After a while the polish begins to flake off your shoe. You will need to strip your shoe.
For this you will need:
- Hot water – but don’t scold yourself, it hurts.
- A rough cloth or an OLD t-shirt.
Method:
1) Place your rough cloth into the water; be careful not to scold yourself.
2) Rub the cloth along the shoe. You will need to be vigorous to remove the polish from the shoe.
3) You will also need to replace the cloth every so often, to get the best effect.
4) Do this until all of the polish is removed.
Some people use MILD house cleaners to help the polish come off, but this can be risky so stick to hot water.
Uniform upkeep
Ironing of your uniform
We all know the easiest way - ask our Mums! But it’s your responsibility, so here's a little on how to iron your uniform!
Iron shirts with your iron set to medium - not hot beacuse this can burn the material.
Iron trousers on hot- place a clean cotton tea towel between your trousers and the iron.
Shirts
Shirts take no time at all when you know how. If your shirt is dry, lightly spray it with water (you can use a water sprayer set to produce a mist)
1) Iron the inside of the collar
2) Take your shirt off the board and place one of the sides on so that the neck is at the end of the board, then iron it.
3) Place the back of the shirt on the board next (you will have to do this in two parts)
4) Now place the other front panel on the board and iron that.
5) Undo the epaulettes and iron them.
6) Place the sleeve along the length of the ironing board. Use a good water sprayer and soak the crease - not too much though.
7) Place the iron at the cuff end of the sleeve while pulling the crease to keep it tight.
8) Press firmly on the iron and steadily move up to the shoulder end of the sleeve.
9) Repeat for the other sleeve and you should have a perfect pair of creases.
Trousers
Take care ironing trousers as you can make the material shine.
1) Place the trousers on their side onto the ironing board.
2) Pull both ends of the already existing crease and make sure no material is ruffled up underneath and that the crease is not folded or moved, otherwise you will get tramlines.
3) Spray the crease with your water sprayer.
4) Place a plain cotton tea towel over the crease and spray this too.
5) Now place your iron on the cloth over the crease and press firmly, and slowly move the iron up to the crease taking care not to go off the cloth and onto your trousers. Repeat as many times as necessary to do the entire crease.
6) Repeat the process in the following order: next front crease, then rear creases.
7) Make sure you don’t have tramlines in your creases.
The use of a cloth prevents the material shining when the iron is placed directly on to the material. If you do not you end up with razor sharp creases with a shiny patch down one side.
Once you have ironed your trousers, you will need to keep the creases sharp and not get any unwanted creases. Use a purpose made trouser hanger - available from military surplus stores and hardware stores or use a double clipped hanger, clip your trousers in at the top, and they will hang straight.
Skirts
To get the correct length, kneel on the floor, upright, ask another Cadet, or your Parent to pin the hem as it touches the floor, this is then the correct length. Do not turn up your skirt at the bottom with a huge hem, it will be noticed, and if you double the hem it is worse. Wash on a 40 degree or wool wash in the machine and don’t forget the fabric conditioner. When dry turn inside out and iron flat.
Belt
1) First remove the buckle.
2) Now take some metal polish (e.g. Basso) using cotton wool rub over the surface.
3) After a short whole your belt should come to a high shine. You frequently have to change your cotton wool as it soon goes black. Make sure you use a clean duster to polish afterwards. Do not attempt to wash the belt itself.
Jumper
This is probably the easiest to maintain. All that is needed to keep it in good condition is an occasional iron or, if starts to get “fluffy” then give it a quick shave, not literally with foam and a razor but with a small pair of scissors. Being careful not to cut the jumper, remove any sticking out fibres. DO NOT CUT OFF THREADS - instead pull them through from the inside using a needle or pin. If the jumper needs washing use a 40 degree wash or wool wash in the machine, and don’t forget your fabric conditioner.
Brassard
There should be no creases. Be careful not to iron over the top of the elastic as the imprint will show through the front of the brassard, spoiling the look. To get round this put the iron in between.
DPM Jacket + trousers
Iron until flat. Remember that it’s DPM, so creases are hard to see. Nevertheless iron all pockets flat against the jacket and sew on any missing buttons.
