SOE training advice on disguise

Points to be considered in your disguise.

Golden Rule.
Never come out of character. By this we mean not only from the clothes point of view but from the mental side also, E.g. if you are a workman do not wear a white collar and black tie, have clean hands and behave like an educated man.

Clothes.
Study in every detail the clothes you are going to wear not forgetting small items such as cut, socks, tie, handkerchiefs, etc. Different shapes and kinds of hats will alter type.

Personal Effects.
Cigarettes, type of newspaper, contents of paper, E.g. watches.

Hair.
If it should be long or short, whether it should be tidy or untidy.

Your Face.
Whether it should be dirty or clean, whether it should be shaved or unshaved, whether it should be pale or sunburnt.

Teeth.
Whether they should be clean or not.

Hands.
Nails, dirty or clean, and your hands white or dirty or hard worked.

Feet.
Whether you wear shoes or boots, whether these should be clean or dirty.

Mannerisms.
Practice until your old mannerisms (such as playing with your right ear, etc ) are forgotten and your new mannerisms have become part of you.

Walk.
If you had any peculiarity in your carriage or your walk, practice until you have conquered the old ones and obtained new ones.

Handwriting.
For signature or name if needed, educated or not. Whether you should sign as if you are used to signing it or whether you should handle your pen as though it were strange to you.

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