Hi all,
I attended my OIC a good number of months ago, and was measured at the time for my number one uniform.
Heard absolutely nothing yet, and spoken to my parent stores (who are very good) and so far can’t seem to find anything.
Does anybody know what the average wait is, or how these can be chased up? There’s a number of parades coming up and I feel somewhat out of place!
(On a side note, do all Officer No 1s come with the sword belt fittings or is this a custom fit? I may have the opportunity to do this in the near future…)
Many thanks,
Once
I was advised that the average wait time would be 12 to 18 weeks. However if the RAF had anything on, it would have a delaying affect on my uniform being done.
Still waiting.
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Thanks for the reply. When abouts did you attend ATF?
Start of the year. So I’ve probaby still got a bit of a wait yet. Was just passing on what the lassie in the tailors said to us all.
Give Turner and Virr at Cranwell a call as they are the supplier.
I know that they were running down stock at the beginning of the year as the contract was up for renewal in April so chances are it won’t just be RAFAC Officers that are waiting.
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Thanks for that both - I’ll give that a try.
Any ideas on the sword loops?
if they haven’t started to make your No1s you can ask for sword hooks but you’ll have to pay for them. Not expensive, about £7 for the pair. Failing that, ask them to pass them onto the Station Tailor and get him to put them on.
I went through OIC in October 17 and am still waiting for mine.
My OIC was end of November, still not had mine yet
Also factor in the time to take your brand new No 1 uniform to a good tailor and have it altered to actually fit you.
Turner Virr are routinely turning out uniforms which are so badly fitted that if we were buying privately they wouldn’t get paid.
Great for me, I keep getting more business, but it’s a pretty poor situation for the organization… The RAF will be paying a fair amount of money for each made-to-measure No1 uniform. The least they should be able to expect from a “reputable” tailor like Turner Virr is for uniforms that fit.
Most importantly, the burden shouldn’t be on the volunteer to pay out of their own pocket to have their “supplied free” uniform altered to satisfy the requirement.
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Agreed, I waited 8 months for mine in 2012 & missed Remembrance Parade as hadn’t arrived in time for it!
When they did finally arrive, the skirt was so big, I could get it on & off without unzipping. The jacket & trousers just as bad - disgraceful!
Looked totally crap, so I adjusted it myself with a sewing machine as no military tailors near where I live.
As you say, the RAF are being totally ripped off by Turner Virr; as are we!
Anyone have any contacts higher up the supply chain to raise as a very widespread general issue??
I have an SNCO friend who purchased her No 1 made to measure from them.
I seem to recall they cost her the best part of £800 (which is about right) except that, as you found, the skirt was enormous - I took 6 or 7 inches out of the waist.
The jacket was likewise, hugely oversized. Granted, people’s weight can go up and down between measuring and fitting, but there are some measurements that really don’t change - like the shoulder measurement. The shoulders of her jacket were easily 1.5" too big.
That’s a costly job to put right because it involves removing the sleeves and totally recutting the arm scye and sleeve heads, before reassembling everything and reattaching the lining.
It’s not just the RAF (and probably other services too) being mucked about, but paying private customers too.
Now, in her case I advised her to demand that they put it right - she’s paid enough for it - which they agreed to do. But they were unable to get it done before a specific event she needed them for so she came to me.
“Poor” is the way I would publically describe the situation - you can use your imagination as to how I describe it in person.
I’ve recently bought a new set of No1s and 5s from T&V and haven’t had an issue however, I went up to their factory in Leeds and met the tailor and could try the items on before I bought. The fit is perfect.
My suggestion to anyone that needs to purchase uniform like this is to try before you buy. My No1 trousers are a different leg size than my No5s
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I’ve never had an issue with T&V, and like Scrounger, used to visit them in Leeds for a fitting first
The SNCO I mention above had her fitting in Portsmouth.
Perhaps the Leeds branch is better.
I don’t know how the RAF supply chain works with them (whether there’s a certain amount of localisation) but I’m regularly seeing problems down here in the South. The most bizzare and most common is that the belts for the jackets are even bigger than the jackets themselves.
Taking 2 or 3 inches out of the jacket waist and 4 or 5 (or even 6) out of the belt is not uncommon. How the hell the belts are being made up to be so much larger than the jackets they are supposed to be paired with is beyond me. 
Perry at TV in Fareham is awesome, always done a good job for me…
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