"Makhnovist red trousers?" Topic

Hi – I'm painting Nestor Makhno's Black Army, and I note that the box art on the STP Makhnovist infantry includes a couple in red trousers and one in a red coat.
Obviously this adds interest to the figures – I was wondering what the historical reasoning was. Especially for the guy who appears to be wearing a completely red uniform with yellow braiding – where did he get it from?

The red items were either made or obtained from pre-WWI army surplus.

Lots of Tsarist cavalry wore red breeches, in particular. Yellow braiding on red would suggest a former hussar regiment.

The revolution saw a lot of men and women start wearing red as a sign of allegiance to revolutionary ideals. The Makhnovists were about as revolutionary as you could get.

Makno is often depicted with red breeches, so I presume there is a reference to him wearing them.

Nestor Makhno was an Anarchist, so red and black are entirely appropriate.

No gods, no masters!

Like most other partisan armies, Makhno clothed his troops in whatever he/they could get. If they came already in a uniform by deserting other units/factions then just rip off the badges etc and reuse it.

"Beat the whites until their red, the reds until their green."
Nestor lead the original green party.

As has already been correctly noted here, red (or rather, maroon) trousers are an accessory to the pre-revolutionary dress uniform of some regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. To be more precise, there were many dress uniforms of various bright colours.

After the end of military operations on the Fronts of the First World War and the disbandment of the Imperial Army, a large number of dress and other uniforms remained in military warehouses. At the same time, the country's industry and logistics were significantly destroyed, which caused enormous difficulties, including with clothing. Including with the uniforms of various armies. So both the Whites and the Reds and all the others actively used the uniforms that remained in the military warehouses they inherited, including dress uniforms.
For example, the famous leather jackets of the Red Commissars were simply uniforms obtained from warehouses, sewn for truck and armoured car drivers, armoured train crews and pilots. In fact, there were entire regiments of red infantry dressed in leather jackets.

And the colored peakless caps and white tunics of the whites were just elements of the outdated Russian uniform of the late 19th century, which was still lying around somewhere in warehouses.

Now directly about Nestor Makhno. For a long time, I collected references to the uniforms of various units and personalities of participants in the Civil War in Russia. Among the descriptions of Makhno's appearance by eyewitnesses is this:
"Batko, "a short, snub-nosed man, dressed in a dark, dandy service jacket, in red riding breeches taken from some White Guard officer," suggested to Davydov to join his detachment in the Third Brigade in order to beat the Whites together."

What an incredibly useful post, Cuprum! I hope gengulfus will return to personally thank you for the insights.