Nazi Soldiers
According to my research, the character that I have chosen to base my make up on is part of the ‘Brigadeführer’ which was an SS rank in nazi germany between the years 1932 and 1945. It was created due to the expansion of the SS.
Brigadeführer – was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945.[1] Brigadeführer was also an SA rank.[2]
While a multitude of uniforms existed for the SS, often depending on the theatre of war where they were stationed, the all black SS uniform is the most well known. Black was seen as sombre and authoritative. The black-white-red color scheme was characteristic of the German Empire, and was later adopted by the Nazi Party. Further, black was popular with fascist movements: a black uniform was introduced by the blackshirts inItaly before the creation of the SS. There was a traditional reason, as well. Just as the Prussian kings’ and emperors’ life-guard cavalry (Leibhusaren) had worn black uniforms with skull-and-crossbones badges, so would the Führer‘s bodyguard unit.[a] As with many more formal military uniforms, these SS uniforms were tailored to project authority, and foster fear and respect. As Himmler put it, “I know there are many people who fall ill when they see this black uniform; we understand that and don’t expect that we will be loved by many people.”[1]
During the war, the German clothing factory that eventually became the international menswear powerhouse Hugo Boss produced thousands of SS and other uniforms using forced labor.[2]
Once the war began, however, the black uniform was seldom worn. The combat units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the later Waffen-SS wore a variation of the field-grey (grey-green) (feldgrau) army (Heer) uniform with SS insignia. The majority of SS personnel wore variations of the Waffen-SS uniform or the grey-green SS service tunic. Branches with personnel that normally would wear civilian attire in the Reich (such as the Gestapo and Kripo) were issued grey-green SS uniforms in occupied territory to avoid being mistaken for civilians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadeführer
SS uniforms used a variety of insignia, the most standard of which were collar patches to denote rank and shoulder boards to denote rank and position, along with sleeve cuffbands and “sleeve diamond” patches to indicate membership in specific branches of the SS. However, Most of these uniforms fell apart as they were often made out of weaker material than normal cotton. They were highly flammable and would usually burn off of their wearer after shot. They were later discontinued because of this flaw in their design.
This is what a typical Brigadeführer soldier looked like. He would have worn a long trench coat, and this would have patches and medals attached to it.
This is likely to have been the collar patches worn.
I need to find an outfit that works for my character, on the original picture I am working from for this project, the character is in a lot of greens/greys:
Also this character has on a protective metal helmet, ‘Stahlhelm’ translating as quite simply ‘Steel Helmet’ which would have been worn by all the soldiers out at war.
So I started looking for something I could use and found this:
This with a decent trench coat would be a perfect costume for my Outpost make up!
Sammy Gregory 
