Romanian Parka, M1990, Surplus

Ce misto! How practicool hooded coat for four-season use from the post-dictator era Romania. Durable, very warm, amply sized, and with a unique camo pattern that doesn’t altogether suck. Somewhat Ostalgic cut and rough details like the Eastern Bloc stuff tended to have, but think of this more like the T34 of the clothing world rather than a sports car. It won’t look that sexy on the Rodeo Drive, but it will get you anywhere and back without eating your soul.

Features

Here you have a very versatile parka coat with a thick removable liner. With the liner on, this will take you through the horrors of Narnia, and when you remove it, you can use the coat during warmer months without sweating to death. The color and style of the lining vary because of course they vary. The lining material is some strange felt stuff that was possibly ripped from the upholstery of the party leaders’ cars when Communism fell. The elbows have reinforcements, and the parka is closed with buttons, the color and style of which vary.

The coat has a soft collar that can be folded up to give you that mysteriously handsome appearance, epaulets on the shoulders, as well as two open side pockets and two buttoned breast pockets. The design of the latter ones is quite distinctively Houdinian. They have a foldable flap that is then buttoned shut, which makes sure that stuff you put in won’t drop or get pickpocketed but it won’t be quick-access gear either. Inside there are waist adjustment cords, and also the sleeves have such. Their color and style vary a bit, too, but all are pretty rough Eastern Bloc stuff.

There is a zippered hood pocket at the neck. However, not all of them include the hood, which is understandable because the hood is a bit of a crappety-flap like the hidden ones tend to be. The fabric has to be thin if you don’t want to have a huge hump. However, it gives some astral protection and makes you look like the villain of a hobo horror film.

M1990 camo pattern

These come in the Romanian M1990 "leaf" camo, which was widely used in the post-dictator era Romania in the ‘90s. It was made in three varieties: This "basic version", the lighter, possibly fall version, and the interesting purplish city camo version of the Ministry of the Interior. There is some color variation even within this variety depending on how much the coat has been used and what batch it is. In 1994, Romania also introduced the M1994 "Fleck" pattern that resembled the German Flecktarn. Both were replaced by the British DPM in 2002.

Size info

The sizes are technically standard European jacket sizes complemented by a Romanian length code at the end. The length groups range from zero to five, but this batch doesn’t have all of them. The length codes work backward; the bigger the number, the shorter the coat. The fit is loose, so going by the EU size will give you lots of room for layers.

We put some useful measurements of the jacket in the chart below. They are the actual measurements, not recommendations. They can vary a bit because this isn’t the epitome of precision engineering. The sleeve length has been measured to the shoulder seam. The sleeves have been attached pretty low under the armpit, so it was a bit tricky to measure the chest width. Thus, we took the measurement where the sleeve seam ended, which is a bit below the chest and thus actually the narrowest point of the body. It is also worth noting that this is the outside width and there is a pretty thick lining underneath, which will shrink the inside width when you wear it with the lining.

Condition

Used Romanian military surplus. These are in very good condition for their age. However, there can be some small holes, patch jobs, or frayed seams, or some chalk dust, and such. They are still all perfectly serviceable.