On making smart purchases: Reenacting isn’t cheap. In the long run, though, it is better to get the proper item the first time rather than buy something cheap and quick that is not up to our standards and falls apart within a couple years, and have to buy it all over again. If maintained properly, kit and clothing can last for a decade or more.
On building your kit: The Society acknowledges that not everyone has the financial ability to dive into reenacting head-on and purchase a whole new kit at once. We give members one year to pull together the needed essentials. In the meantime, loaner items may be available on a case-by-case basis. The regiment will not allow you to field without the proper basic kit.
Loaner items: If a loaner kit is borrowed, it is done as a courtesy and must be returned to the regiment in the condition in which it was received. Clothing and equipment, including weaponry, must be cleaned. Disrespecting property will mean it will not be loaned out again. If a piece of kit is lost or damaged, the member borrowing it will be held liable for its repair or replacement.
VAD Uniform Dress or “Overall”
On the left, Lydia demonstrated British Red Cross walking out wear, including the hat and wool overcoat. On the right, Sharon wears the standard working uniform of nursing VADs, including her chambray dress, apron, collar, and veil.
https://www.edwardianpromenade.com/war/wwi-wednesday-outfitting-the-vad/
New VADs destined for military hospitals joined a detachment for one month’s probation, and if suitable, they signed a contract for a further six months service, receiving £20 per annum and a uniform allowance of £4. There were a variety of places where one could obtain a uniform, including the tailoring departments in posh stores like Harrods, but Garrould’s of Edgeware Road were the official contractors to the British Red Cross Society & St. John’s Ambulance.
According to “Too Awful for Words…”: Nursing Narratives of the Great War by Nancy A. Nygaard: