translation help

[George Hawrysch]

No contradiction. In that period, it was common for people
to wear uniform-like clothing associated with social rank or
professional affiliation. Court workers, orchestra members,
guards and servants of all kinds... And people with money or
title would wear sabers, epaulettes, brass buttons, etc. as
a matter of course. The St. Stanislaus pin suggests this is
a government employee.

Since "мундир" refers to military dress, "штатский" is just
a way to indicate a civilian in uniform. I would translate
the term as "civil service uniform."

George Hawrysch

> in my P'etsukh text there is a photo of an old man dressed in a  
> "штатский мундир" (shtatskii mundir)  of the pre-Revolutionary  
> period, with brass buttons, and on which there is pinned a St.  
> Stanilaus cross.
> Any ideas on how I should translate "в штатском мундире" (v  
> shtatskom mundire)? Do the two terms not contradict each other?  Is  
> there such a thing as a "civillian full-dress uniform"?
> Any help would be great, on or off list.
> with best wishes to all,
> Krystyna
> steiger at rogers.com

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