>>63673183
>mental note to not wear my dumb mecha pilot larp gear in public
To be clear, that's setting up flash and patches from real units in actual uniform-specified locations on a random Carhart jacket, or on surp from the wrong country, that sort of thing. Even that's got exceptions. A 70s-style bomber jacket with a Jolly Rogers or Tomcatters patch and a UNSSDF roundel is very clearly not you trying to be a Space Shuttle Door Gunner or larperator, just a nerd. And like the other Anon says, Star Wars gear doesn't make you look like a poser, neither does a Razgriz Squadron flight jacket.

Really, if I see someone with a patch or a ballcap from one of my old units on the street, I'm more likely to shoot them a wave and see if we know anyone in common. If they just think the design is cool I'll go "oh hey, I was with those guys back in the Nineties" and maybe bullshit about the unit's history or our dets if they're interested. Some vets do get really pissy about wearing the "wrong" patches. But those guys are almost uniformly insecure jackoffs who have done fuck-all with their lives or a shitbag that everyone hated while they were in.