Paul Gorman is…

In praise of the Telnayashka

Happiness is, it seems, the arrival in the post of a new Telnayashka – a Russian military top.

Telnayashka means “body shirt”. In single knitted cotton with Breton neck, long sleeves and body, these are the simplest and most comfortable of garments. I particularly like the paper sizing label stitched bottom left onto the front hem .

Also produced as singlets, Telnayashkas are readily available online and at all good army surplus stores (London’s best is Waterloo Camping).

The black stripes denote those worn by submariners, apparently. Dark blue is naval, light blue air and special forces, green for border troops and red militia and internal affairs.

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